Who's Your Daddy?
by Mrstrentreznor
Summary: Embry is unsettled; everyone else in the pack has his or her life in order and he does not even know who his father is. He and Quil decide to try to find out. rating MA for sex, language and themes: AU - Part 4 of the 'What was she doing' series
1. The Wolfy Boys

Author: mrstrentreznor

Title: Who's your daddy?

Rating: NC-17 for sex, language and themes

Fandom: Twilight, AU

Pairing: mostly Embry, bits of Quil and the rest of the pack

Feedback: please and thankyou

Author's Notes: follows the previous three stories, in this series

Disclaimer: _ the characters and all recognisable situations belong to Stephenie Meyer- this is a work of fan fiction, except for the legends and histories of the Quileute that, of course, belong to them. I pay my respects to their gods._

_Thanks to BanSidhe for betaing_

Summary: Embry is unsettled; everyone else in the pack has his or her life in order and he does not even know who his father is. He and Quil decide to try to find out.

**AN: this has become a series of stories. Read them in this order:**

**1.**** What was she doing?**

**2.**** What was he thinking?**

**3.**** Where's my happy ever after?**

**4.**** Who's your daddy?**

**Who's your daddy?**

**The_ wolfy boys_**

Embry Call and Quil Ateara IV lay on the lounge playing X-box. Quil was winning again.

"I am whooping your ass because I am naturally better at indoor activities," Quil argued. He stressed the word 'indoor'.

Embry rolled his eyes. "Fairly conservative to limit yourself to indoors, doncha reckon Quil? I mean Jake and Leah just clearly spent days in indoor 'activities' outdoors and she couldn't walk and Jake could barely stand."

They had all seen that image in Paul's head. They were sure Bella was going to whack him upside the head one day when his eyes got that glazed look. She had to know what he was thinking about; she did not need a mind link for that.

"Oh yeah," Quil breathed, as **his** eyes glazed over. Embry would not have been surprised to see drool at the corner of his mouth. Regardless, his distraction worked and he leapt ahead in the cart race.

"Wha…?" Quil shook his head and got himself together but Embry was too far ahead, crossing the finish line first now. "You are a sneaky fucker you know that Call." He threw down his controller in disgust.

"Maybe I take after my father," Embry suggested.

Quil gave him a look. It wasn't like Embry to bring up his absent father. Absent? Maybe not… completely unknown might be a more accurate description.

Maybe he wanted to talk about it.

"Did you want to talk about it?"

Embry gave him a look. "That was such a girl question, Quil."

He just shrugged and waited for Embry to actually answer.

They sat there for a couple of minutes staring at the screen.

"It's all right for you, I mean you are Quil Ateara the** fourth**… you've got roots… you know."

Quil nodded. He did know. His family was all about history. His grandfather Quil Ateara II was the teller of tall tales and keeper of Quileute living history.

He was actually alive when the wolf pack had signed the treaty with the Cullens in 1936; sure he was 10 but he had a fabulous memory and that was something so freaky weird it had stuck clearly in his mind even now. Lucky for Sam Uley.

After he had phased and become an official wolf pack member, his grandfather had told him how he had realised what had happened to Sam when he was 'lost' for two weeks. His then, fiancée Leah Clearwater and her family desperately searching for him everywhere; they thought he had had some kind of accident in the forest. Truth, stranger than fiction and all that.

The old guy was actually standing in the early dark, close to the forest, calling out to a freakishly huge wolf with a plate of food in one hand and a pair of shorts in the other. He coached Sam through how to become human again. Sam respected him; big time. It was Sam's secret nightmare that he would have been trapped like that forever; losing his humanity with each passing day. Hanging at the edges of the community that no longer recognised him.

After that, Old Quil had made sure he had laid hands on every young man in the tribe. Not in a creepy way, he was keeping a check on their body temperature and warning the existing wolves if someone else was close to phasing. He could pass it off beautifully as a brittle and frail old man just leaning on you for a second. He was anything but frail; he might look it, but at his age, he still visited others and gave them his quiet strength and support when they needed it. Sue could not have got through Harry's death without him.

Part of the reason why Quil had been so overjoyed to finally phase was that he was rejoining his closest friends, Jake and Embry. But, phasing also meant a lot to him, because he knew his grandfather desperately wanted him to be a part of the wolf pack. not that he could tell him the secret, just in case. So rather than being horrified when it finally happened, his family was ecstatic. He was supported the whole way and it made all the difference to Quil's mindset about being a wolf.

He looked at his best friend.

Embry, on the other hand, still kept it a secret from his own mother. The pack had lobbied Sam when he was the Alpha to tell her, but the one person, who had argued against it, to the surprise of them all, was Embry. He said it was too big of a secret for that. [Breaking Dawn chapter8]

He started almost every single day of his life with his mother shouting at him for sneaking out during the night. He was doing his patrol, but he would not tell her that.

Quil didn't know much about relationships… he even thought the word with a sneer… but that shit could not be healthy for any _relationship_.

History… yeah he had it in spades and Embry had… what?

Quil had an idea. Jake would have said it was dangerous for Quil to get ideas… but still…

"We have spent heaps of time watching C.S.I. and detective mysteries. We can solve the big mystery," Quil was enthusiastic.

"Which is?"

"Your parentage, dude!"

Embry was staring at him.

"Things are pretty quiet now. Jake, Leah and Paul can cover it themselves. We can ask for a break… a what do they call it?"

"Leave of absence?" suggested Embry.

"Yeah, that's it! We will be like Watson and Holmes. Everyone else has a girl and they are all busy and we can make this our quest." He said quest like Gandalf in the lord of the rings; it was in caps, "Our Quest."

"More like Yogi and Boo-boo," Embry snorted.

Quil was confused, "They're not detectives."

"My point exactly. But they do get severely distracted by picnic baskets."

"Make some notes," ordered Quil.

"Why do I have to be the secretary?"

"You're Watson."

"What? No way! I have the brains in this pairing, I'm Holmes, and you're Watson," Embry argued.

Quil was unsinkable. "Okay then, we can be like those detective brothers … what was their name… Hardy?"

"The Hardy Boys?"

"Yeah! Which was which?"

"Fucked if I know! They had boring names like Ron or Kevin or something."

"No I think it was Frank and Joe. Crap! Now I am seriously weirding myself out. Why the fuck do I remember that?"

Quil stood and started pacing with his hands behind his back; tapping one hand on top of the other. He looked as if he was trying to channel Sherlock Holmes and failing badly.

"What do we know?" he asked ponderously.

"Okay, I'll play." It was almost impossible to get Quil off something once he got like this anyway.

Embry thought about what they did know.

"It has to be a wolf guy right?" said Quil.

"Well it has to be a guy," Embry was sarcastic.

Quil gave him a look. "You shifted early, so it has to be someone who is as close a wolf descendant as the others who phased early."

He paced back and forth a bit more. "Take this down…"

"Seriously?" interrupted Embry.

"Yeah… come on… you have to do it properly," Quil whined.

"Okay, okay." Embry resigned himself to finding a pen and pad of paper to take Quil's sacred notes.

"Possible candidates?"

"Suspects?"

"Whatever. Joshua Uley, Billy Black, Quil Ateara III," Quil stated.

Embry just looked at him. Shit, he _was _serious. He started to write.

"Maybe so," argued Embry, "but Paul and Jared phased before I did so you have to count their fathers too."

"Fine, add Noah Waggener [Paul's dad] and William Hudson [Jared's dad] (AN: W. published the Quileute Chieftain/Independent newspaper in 1908 and argued for the education of their children – it's a good name.)

"Jeez Quil, add Harry Clearwater and that is all of the pack fathers."

They looked at each other. "Fuck no, Sue would have castrated him. Leah's bitch side comes from somewhere you know," Quil was vehement.

"Fine," agreed Embry, "no Harry."

Quil stalked back and forth a little more. "Okay; known behaviour of suspects."

"Two serious womanisers."

"Agreed; Waggener and Uley."

"Location and alibis for the time in question?"

"Fuck's sake Quil… how can we do that?"

"Well, let's work it out… we're smart… remember?"

Embry just rolled his eyes.

"Sam is four years older than us. His father left when he was a baby, so…"

"…Joshua was gone before the date." Embry interrupted.

"No wait," added Quil, "Did your mum get pregnant here or on the Makah rez?"

Embry thought about it. That was actually a good question. "As far as I know, she came here when she was already pregnant."

"Ho ho," crowed Quil, "the mystery deepens." He rubbed his hands with glee.

"But that would fit then," Embry realised. "If Joshua had already left La Push, then he could have been on the Makah rez at the right time."

"Quite so, Watson. Well reasoned."

"I thought we were the Hardy Boys?" Embry queried.

"More like the Wolfy Boys," chuckled Quil.

FF_2154210_ - 3/01/2011 01:34:00 PM


	2. We have a plan

**Chapter 2 - _We have a plan_**

Disclaimer: _ the characters and all recognisable situations belong to Stephenie Meyer- this is a work of fan fiction, except for the legends and histories of the Quileute that, of course, belong to them. I pay my respects to their gods._

_Thanks to BanSidhe for betaing_

"Look Quil, this is all well and good, but why don't we just ask Mum?" Embry asked.

"Dude," said Quil, "first, you would have to admit you are a wolf and you don't want to do that."

"Oh yeah," he looked thoughtful. "We could just tell her that I want to know."

"Look, lame brain, where's the fun in that?" Quil looked offended, "and besides, if she wanted you to know, she would already have told you. Sometime in the last nineteen years."

"Maybe she doesn't know," suggested Embry. "She could have been drunk or stoned off her head or something."

"Nah," they chorused. Embry's mum was so rabid about 'naughty' behaviour they could not imagine her doing any such thing.

"What about your birth certificate?" asked Quil. "Hate to be all obvious or anything."

"Fuck's sake!" exclaimed Embry. He leapt to his feet and disappeared further into the house.

Quil helped himself to a drink and some leftovers from the fridge. Leftovers; shit, never had any at his house.

Embry wandered back in with a paper in his hand. "Found it, but it lists it as 'unknown'."

"Foiled again Watson," cried Quil. "The mystery continues. Maybe she is protecting a secret love… a man from an influential family… Romeo and Juliet style… a forbidden love with the poor Native girl… she loves him still… his identity remain a secret to all, even to his own son… but she clings to the box of romantic love letters tied up with red ribbons hidden away in a secret location…"

Embry's eyes narrowed. "Jesus Quil, have you been borrowing Bella's books again?"

Quil rolled his eyes. "Well some of them are okay," he mumbled defensively.

"Wolf guy, Quil, remember," Embry reminded him.

"Fine," he grunted, "We will be all scientific rather than romantic."

There was silence for a minute while Embry looked at him with an odd look on his face.

"Science... C.S.I.… That's it!" Quil cried. "DNA testing!"

"DNA testing?"

"Yeah, we can collect a scraping from each possible sibling and get it tested."

"How much does it cost?" the ever practical Embry asked.

They went into his mum's study and booted up the home's only computer. It was old and took a long time to start up. Then they had to connect to the internet.

Embry did a search for DNA testing. "Holy cow, some are up to $600 a pop!"

"That is too freaking expensive," Quil grumbled, "what a crock; they do it all the time on the TV. Who knew it cost that much…"

"No wait; there are some cheaper tests available. $99 looks like the cheapest."

"Dude we don't have $99," Quil was disappointed.

"Yeah we don't have enough for one test as opposed to five; to test all the possibilities. Plus," added Embry, "You'd have to make it six tests; don't you have to compare them against** my** DNA."

"Jesus, that's like $600 bucks, plus postage."

"And the comparison will be tricky," Embry added.

"Yeah, that_ will _be hard; we are all cousins and second cousins. It would be a DNA disaster," said Quil.

"And the cheaper they are, the less reliable they are likely to be," Embry added sagely. "It's over."

They both sighed; they were oddly deflated by their findings. They shut the computer down again; Embry's mum got feral about wasting electricity as well, and made their way back to the living room.

They threw themselves on the lounge and lay there for a while.

Quil suddenly leapt to his feet. "Did you say "over"? Nothing is over until we decide it is! Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor? Hell no!" He was quoting Bluto from Animal House, one of their favourite movies.

"Come on Embry," he encouraged, "we have got to use what we have."

"You are just not going to let this go are you Quil?"

"Nope." His lips popped on the 'p' sound.

"Okay… back to our notes. Which possible suspects can we interview?" queried Embry.

"Uley and Waggener have skipped the jurisdiction and Ateara is deceased."

"You are seriously weirding me out Quil."

"So that leaves Hudson and Black."

They looked at each other in a moment of realisation that they may have to ask Billy Black if he cheated on his wife in 1989.

Quil shuddered. "The man scares the fuck out of me," he admitted.

"Yeah, me too." admitted Embry. "Can't we just ask your grandfather?" begged Embry. "He knows _everything _and he would be sure to know something about this…"

"You can't reject _him_ as a possibility," suggested Quil.

"That's it!" snapped Embry. "You have lost your fucking mind, Quil."

"He'd be up for it," argued Quil.

"Do the math… how old was he in 1990 when I was born?"

"Born in 1926… so…" Quil's brow furrowed in concentration, "he'd have been 64 in 1990."

Embry threw his arms in the air. "Honestly… why do I bother?"

"Oh all right…. But, jeez if it was him, he would have told the whole village about it," said Quil. "I know him; he may look fragile now, but he was hell on wheels in his youth."

"Did they have the wheel then?" Embry ribbed him.

"He would have made up some freaking legend about how he was possessed by a much younger, more handsome spirit, who allowed him to impregnate the young and beautiful girl."

Embry smacked him upside the head and it turned into a wrestling match on the floor. When they had both called uncle, they were back on the lounge looking dejected again.

"Just as well," said Quil, "that would have made you like my Uncle." He grinned at his friend. "**Uncle Embry** … and you would have owed me a heap of really cool birthday presents."

There was silence for a few minutes. They stared at the game menu still running on the TV.

"So why don't you want your mum to know?" Quil was genuinely interested. He was proud of what he was.

"Look at it from her point of view Quil; she is already upset that I am this fatherless child. Imagine what she would be like if she knew I carried this… ," he struggled for a word, "… I don't want to say 'curse', but sometimes it feels like it."

"Yeah, but it is her choice to leave you fatherless, she could have moved on with some other guy and at least you would have had a stepfather to play football with, you know…"

"Shit, Quil, when did you get so wise?"

Quil took no offence and just grinned at him.

"So why now?"

"What?"

"Why is this bugging you now? You have never seemed to care before."

"I dunno… maybe I'm an adult now. You know nineteen and all. I am supposed to be all grown up and I can find out who my father is, if I want to."

"Agreed." Quil nodded. "I'm serious about helping you find out, you know."

"I know."

Silence again.

"But what if I imprinted Quil?"

"What do you mean?"

"How can I tell her about my father and my family if I don't even know his name?"

"Well at least yours might still be alive. Mine died years ago and my mum never moved on either."

"At least you have your grandfather living with you," argued Embry.

"Yeah but he sucks at playing football," said Quil.

That image in both of their heads just cracked them up.

FF_2154210_ - 4/01/2011 05:23:00 AM


	3. Son of the Disney love story

**Chapter 3 - Son of the Disney love story**

Disclaimer: _ the characters and all recognisable situations belong to Stephenie Meyer- this is a work of fan fiction, except for the legends and histories of the Quileute that, of course, belong to them. I pay my respects to their gods._

_Thanks to BanSidhe for betaing_

So they went to visit Jared. They had to start somewhere and that seemed the easiest place. Neither of them was eager to start with Billy Black, but they felt that if they let it go now, they probably would not ever come back to it. It felt wrong to fall at the first hurdle.

Paul hated talking about his family; Joshua Uley had left when Sam was a baby and had never been seen again, so he was a little hard to interview. Sam might know some stuff, but he was unlikely to know what his father had got up to, before he left. Quil's dad was dead; and they had ruled out Harry Clearwater.

"We should be honest," argued Embry.

"Honest?" Quil sounded like he had never heard the word before. "You want us to ask Jared if his father ever cheated on his mum."

"Well… I suppose… when you put it like that."

They had reached the porch by then. Jared opened the door before they got to the doorbell; wolf senses and all.

"Hey guys. What's up?"

"Honest," hissed Embry quietly.

Quil rolled his eyes. "We are investigating a mystery," he said in his ponderous Holmes voice.

"Uh huh." Jared looked unimpressed.

Quil jigged his head sideways at Embry who rolled his eyes.

"Jared, can we ask you some stuff about your parents? If you don't mind?" Embry asked.

"No, sure, come in."

They followed him into the neat little house. He and Kim had moved in with his parents. They were saving their money until they could afford a place of their own. Parents tended to cut the wolves a lot more slack if they knew what they really did most nights. The reality of their life of danger hung heavily on the majority of parents. No one really wanted their last conversation with their son to be arguing about having a girl in his room. Except maybe Embry's Mum. Seriously nutted in the head that woman, thought Quil.

Maybe Embry would get some lessons from this as well. Honesty. Quil snorted.

"What?"

"Honesty. That is ironic coming from you dude."

Embry looked puzzled.

"I'll tell you later," said Quil.

Jared had taken them to the kitchen, got three sodas from the fridge, and handed them out.

"So… Embry's dad huh?" he asked. "I assume that is the mystery."

"Yeah, it's time," agreed Quil. "What can you tell us?"

"I am surprised you are even here," he said.

"Why?" asked Embry.

"My parents are the textbook teen love story."

"Really?" Quil sounded oddly moved.

"Lay off Bella's books Quil," ordered Embry.

"They fell in love when they were fourteen and they have been together ever since. Never even kissed anybody else, let alone done anything else," Jared told them.

"Aww, that's adorable," said Quil.

"Quil," barked Embry. He turned his attention back to Jared. "But how can you be sure?"

Jared pulled his head back. "That's just rude Embry, but I understand this means a lot to you, so I'll let it slide, just this once. Haven't you ever seen them together? It's still puke worthy and they are nearly forty." He said 'forty' as if it was a hundred. He shook his head. "Thank the Gods I imprinted, because there is just no way I could ever have found a girl who loved me like my mother loves my father, without imprinting."

"Aww," said Quil again.

"So I understand what you are searching for Embry, but it isn't here." Jared sounded a little sympathetic.

"Thanks dude, we really appreciate it and the sodas," Quil thumped him in the shoulder, in that boy way of fare-welling a friend.

"Come on, Embry; things to do," he stated, sucking down the last of his soda.

When they got outside, Embry kind of shook himself a little. "Okay, that is another possibility crossed off the list."

"Yeah, that's it! Let's look on the bright side."

"What was that crack about honesty and me, Quil?"

"You lie to your own mother every night, Embry. It seems to me that your insistence on honesty with others is a little off."

"Hmm."

And that was all he said.

* * *

**Ask Jake and Leah**

"Billy Black. We can't put it off."

"Should we talk to Jake first?"

"Yeah, that might work."

"We have to talk to your mum or your grandfather too, Quil."

"Yeah I know, let's just do the big scary first, eh?"

They went off to find Jake and tracked him down fairly easily; he and Leah were at home and they were cooking. The Clearwater home was now their home and it had seemed to work out well for everyone, except maybe Seth.

Quil and Embry were amazed by the change. A happy Leah was a hell of a lot easier to live with. She was nice, welcoming, and polite. They were all still dealing with the transformation. Quil watched her as she was marinating some meat in the kitchen. She glowed.

He may have been reading too many of Bella's romantic novels, but he was really happy for her and for Jake. They had both needed it. She used to describe herself as a compassionless shrew, and now she was the lovely woman they had all almost forgotten had ever existed.

Jake was peeling potatoes at the sink, his huge shoulders hunched over with the effort. She was watching him and smiling at his efforts, eventually she reached over, and with a kiss, relieved him of the burden of the peeler. He grinned back at her and she stroked her hand down his back and kissed him again.

Embry, on the other hand, watched them with something approaching envy. He would have given his right arm to be where Jake was now. He had always wanted Leah to kiss him like that.

He and Quil were the last of the pack that remained single. Oh, and Seth. They had continued nightclubbing occasionally; but even that had got stale for him; especially without Jake. Quil was always up for meaningless sex with someone… hell, anyone. He did have standards; they had to be female. That was about it. Older women didn't even faze him. He reckoned they were pretty damn good on the experience side and glad to have someone take notice of them for a change. Far less complicated to have sex with older women; they didn't get shitty with you for not calling them the next day. In fact, they usually did not _want_ you to complicate their lives by hanging around too much. Paul had worked that out years ago and never shared that little titbit with them.

Jake's tongue must have been halfway down Leah's throat and Embry cleared his throat before the two of them went at it in the kitchen in front of them both. Quil grinned evilly.

Jake pressed himself up against the back of Leah's body as she went back to peeling potatoes. "Sorry guys," he almost shook his head as if to clear it. "What can I do you for?" he asked.

"We have decided to investigate the circumstances of Embry's parentage." Quil was using the Holmes voice again.

Jake blinked. "The wha…?"

"Jesus Quil, you are an embarrassment," Embry huffed. "We are just checking out some stuff. We kind of ruled out Hudson; Jared's dad and we still have a few other possibilities…" his voice trailed off.

There was silence for a minute other than the sound of Leah still peeling.

"Jake, do you think it could be your dad?" Embry tentatively asked.

Jake sighed and stepped away from Leah. "Let's go talk in the living room." He touched Leah's shoulder. "I'll help later okay?" he asked.

She just nodded and smiled at him. "Sure, sure," she said.

"Come on guys," he said.

They followed him in and threw themselves in various chairs.

"I have thought about this a lot," Jake started. "I mean, I can remember thinking it would be the coolest thing in the world to have you as a brother, Embry. I think I actually hoped that, a lot, when we were younger, and I desperately need another male in the family balance. But now…" he shrugged.

He stretched his long legs out in front of him and looked pensive. "I really think that if you were my father's son and he knew that, that he would not have left you unclaimed. He just wouldn't do that, you know."

They both nodded.

Quil spoke, "Your mum died when you were little Jake, but do you know if there was ever a time when…" he ground to a halt. This shit was hard.

"I know what you are trying to ask and this is important. My parents loved each other, but they were pretty volatile. You probably can't remember her, but Rachel is just like mum. Sarah Black could be pretty emotional when she was in a mood." He picked at the arm of the couch. "I know they had a couple of periods when they fought and slept at friends' houses. Dad used to hit the drink pretty hard then too; before the diabetes hit him back."

He sighed, "But as far as I know, they never had affairs but who the hell knows what their parents got up to when they were younger. I can't really help you here. You will just have to ask him." He gave them both a look; he knew they really did not want to ask Billy Black any such thing.

Embry sighed. "If I really want answers…"

"Yeah," Jake agreed, "gotta ask some tough questions."

He watched them both. "Who else is on your list?"

Leah came in and sat on the arm of the couch, with her arm across Jake's shoulders.

"We ruled out Harry Clearwater for obvious reasons," said Embry.

"Mum would have castrated him," said Leah.

"See now," said Quil, "that was exactly what I said." He looked pleased with himself.

"Hudson is out; teenage Disney love story."

"Waggener and Uley would have fucked anything that moved," Leah added.

When the boys all gave her a look, she rolled her eyes. "You guys are seriously out of the gossip loop. I listen to the older women you know; half of them have very fond memories of those two. That's a point," she interrupted herself, "do you want me to ask Mum if she knows anything?"

"Would you?" asked Embry. "I don't mind coming too, if it would make it easier for her. I mean we know nothing and neither of us are game to ask my mum, so anything Sue can remember would be a help."

She leant forward and touched Embry's arm. "I lost my father, she said, "and that was hard enough; but to have never known him in the first place," she shook her head. "I cannot imagine what that is like for you. And I was really unsympathetic before Embry, I apologise for that."

Embry blinked; his eyes shined. He cleared his throat. "Thanks Leah," and he smiled at her.

Quil spoke up too, "I will talk to my mum as well,"

"Birth certificate?" piped up Leah. "Amazing what people write down when they fill in a form." Her new job with the Sherriff's department gave her lots of experience of both people and forms.

"Checked it; says 'unknown', Quil answered her.

"But why would she come here?" Embry spoke. "I mean if this was a quick one night stand or whatever. Why would she leave the Makah rez and come here when she was pregnant?"

"Maybe her family threw her out," suggested Leah. "You know… for getting pregnant."

"Have you ever been back for a family visit?" Jake asked.

"Yeah it's all of two hours drive away. Jeez you could pop up for lunch," Quil was sarcastic.

Embry looked thoughtful. "I don't think I have ever met any of Mum's family." He said it as if it had only just occurred to him. "That's weird, right?"

"The council would have to know; they must have given her permission to live here and to have the child here," Leah put in. "You know what they are like about rules and everything. In order for you to be a registered Quileute, they must have known who the father was."

"Old Quil," said Jake.

"No, we ruled him out as the father," said Quil absent-mindedly.

"What the fuck?" said Jake.

Leah laughed so hard, she fell off the back of the couch.

"Quil!" said Jake. "I meant he was** on **the council then. How could HE be the father?"

Leah had started wiping at her eyes. Her laughter was infectious and the next minute they were all laughing too.

"Uncle Embry," gasped out Quil.

That started another round of hilarity.

"You two as investigators…" gasped out Jake, still laughing.

"We're not the hardy boys; but the Wolfy boys," Quil told him seriously before they all cracked up again.

Quil and Embry rose to leave. As they walked away, they could still hear Leah laughing.

FF_2154210_ - 5/01/2011 12:44:00 PM


	4. Sleepover at Quil's

**Chapter 4 Sleepover at Quil's**

Disclaimer: _ the characters and all recognisable situations belong to Stephenie Meyer- this is a work of fan fiction, except for the legends and histories of the Quileute that, of course, belong to them. I pay my respects to their gods._

_Thanks to BanSidhe for betaing_

**AN: I read somewhere (twilight lexicon maybe?), that Quil's mother's name was Rowana – can't confirm that, but it will do. The Makah rez is less than two hours drive from La Push. I am not sure that SM realised it was that close. It does seem odd that Embry never met his family. But still, I use what I have…**

They did their patrol that night. For once Embry had permission to be staying over night at Quil's house. Or so his mother thought. So, he would at least start the day without the shouting.

He knew his mother loved him, but some days he wondered at her actions.

He was still thinking about the father issue while they were phased. Quil was thinking about Jake and Leah having sex. Typical. Didn't that just epitomise them both.

By the time they had finished their rounds they were both exhausted. They fell into bed. Quil's mum Rowana had made up a mattress for Embry.

Paul's theory of the puppy pile made sense here, too. Embry woke feeling more refreshed and happy than he had in days; even on a blow up mattress. Quil was snoring contentedly into his mattress. He had a shower and got changed and made his way to the kitchen. Rowana had rules about wearing a shirt at the table; Embry didn't mind. She was up and poring over the crossword and puzzle pages.

"Embry, you're up early."

"I always sleep well at your house," he told her.

"The coffee's on, if you want one," she offered.

"Thanks." He helped himself. He was here so often, he didn't really rate visitor status anymore. He sipped his coffee and watched her, her brow furrowed in concentration on something.

She noticed his gaze. "I hate if anyone gets to the Sudoku before I do," she explained.

He smiled. She frowned at him.

"What's wrong Embry? You seem really off balance today."

"Just thinking about family," he said.

"How do you mean?"

"Quil started it… he is intent on helping me find my father."

"Oh,… And you don't want to do that?... or are you just frightened of what or whom you will find?"

"I don't know. That's just it; I don't know what I want to do." He sipped his coffee again.

Rowana gave him a sympathetic smile. "What's the worst case scenario? What are you most frightened of?"

"Breaking my mother's heart," he admitted in a small voice.

"Oh Embry; she made her decision a long time ago."

"Were you here then? Do you remember when she came to La Push?"

"I do. But I don't remember her ever saying anything about who had got her pregnant. She always kept to herself."

"Still does. She doesn't have many friends. I don't remember her ever having anyone over. I only realised yesterday that I have never met any of her family." Embry looked troubled.

"Never? That** is **odd."

"I have never even heard her mention if she had any brothers and sisters. Let alone met any of them."

"She does like her secrets," said Rowana.

"Quil pointed out that you could drive to the Makah rez and back in a day. I don't know why, but I had never thought about it before now. That it is so close…"

"Why don't you go yourself?"

"What do you mean?"

"Quil will go with you."

"Yeah, he would wouldn't he?"

"Go find the other Calls, Embry. If that is what you want to do."

There was silence for a minute.

"But he must be Quileute." There was no need to explain who 'he' was.

"Yes, he must. I can assure you that, as far as I know, it was not my husband. If that will help cross another name from your list." She shrugged. "No wife can really say they knew everything about their husband; but I believe with all my heart that my Quil was faithful to me."

"You never remarried," Embry pointed out quietly.

She gave a sad smile, "He was a hard act to follow. I did try, Quil wouldn't remember. Dating just never worked for me. I suppose I am happier with my memories."

"Was he like Quil?"

"Yes, very much. The clown; always had a joke and made people laugh. Just like Quil is now." She gave him a balancing look. "Have you spoken to your mother about this?"

"She doesn't even know I am part of the pack. How can I explain that the list of possible fathers is made shorter by the fact that I turn into a big ball of fur?"

"Maybe we can fix that…"

"No, I don't want her to know."

She reached for his hand, "Embry you shouldn't be ashamed of being a pack member; it's an honour."

He snorted. "Not in my house."

Rowana sighed. "How do you know if you have never told her?"

Embry tilted his head to listen, "Quil's awake," he said. He had avoided answering her question.

"You should ask Old Quil, he was on the council then," Rowana said.

"Yeah we thought of that. Even if he says it was your Quil?"

She smiled at him. "I would be honoured to have you as Quil's half brother Embry Call. I think you are a wonderful young man. Whatever happened in the past it was almost twenty years ago and it was not your fault. It seems silly to punish you, for whatever happened back then."

Quil must have heard the end of their conversation. "Yeah dude, I am dying to have you as my brother, unlikely as it may seem."

Embry looked confused.

"That you are my brother, not that I would want you … crap can't even speak English this early in the morning," he grumbled reaching for the mixing bowl he used for cereal; it was the only thing big enough.

He sat himself down with his bowl now filled with cereal and milk. Quil ate with what looked like a serving spoon. "So you don't think it was Dad?" he asked his mother with a mouthful.

"No, and don't talk with your mouthful," she told him.

He swallowed heavily. "So who is your money on?"

She made a thinking noise, "I suppose if I had to bet on it, I would go Waggener or Uley."

"Yeah that is the standing wisdom, isn't it?"

"Poor Sam," said Quil sagely, "he already thinks his father is a complete deadbeat, imagine finding out he is even worse than he thought."

"I suppose, I hadn't actually thought about it. That's a point, Quil… we are stirring up a lot of things with this investigation. I mean if it was Billy Black, should I be the Alpha?"

"No you're not full blood Quileute, dude. Half Makah remember?"

"Jeez just as well, that would be a complete mess. Not that I have ever felt any need to rival Jake... you know."

"Are you really sure this is what you want to do, Embry?" asked Rowana.

"I told Quil the other day, that I am an adult and I don't even know my history. Whom I take after. You said Quil was a joker like his dad, but what am I? I don't even know if I have his smile or his ears or his quiet determination or whatever." He looked suddenly as if he was going to cry. "I have no history, you know. My _own_ mother has even stopped me from having any of her history. What the hell happened on the Makah rez that she has never spoken about it?"

Rowana looked like she wanted to hug him, but she wasn't sure how he would take it. She reached out for his hand again but he tucked them in close to his body. The message was clear; no touching. She understood, he was probably close to tears. She stood and bustled around with the coffee pot, refilling it and giving him a chance to get himself under control. Quil, for once remained silent too, chomping on his cereal.

"I suggested you both go to the Makah reservation and check it out."

"In what?" asked Quil.

"We could borrow Bella's truck…," said Embry.

"… or the Rabbit," suggested Quil.

"I will pay for the fuel," Rowana added in that implacable 'I've already decided this' voice, that all mothers possess.

"If we need to go, I would really appreciate that," said Embry.

"We are not even sure if we can get out of our pack duties yet," Quil added.

"If you tell Jake why you are going, he will give you permission. I would bet money on that."

Rowana stood, "I need to have a shower," she announced, "And head off to work. Ask Old Quil when he emerges for breakfast," she suggested.

"Good idea, Mum and then that's done too."

Quil pulled over a well-thumbed copy of Wuthering Heights from the bench and started reading it.

"Bella's?" asked Embry.

"Yeah, one of her favourites she tells me. Jeez, I dunno… I do not know why she likes it. There isn't a single nice person in the whole book. They are all mean and some are just twisted. And carrying on family feuds for generations is just fucked in the head. Punishing the kids for the sins of the fathers… you know… weird," he muttered and returned to the book.

Embry pulled over the newspaper and waited for Old Quil to emerge.

When he came into the kitchen, he gave them both a look.

"I knew this day would come," he ponderously intoned.

"Fuck! Are you psychic now, too?" Quil exclaimed.

Old Quil laughed, "Stupid boy," he said affectionately. "Your mother told me you wanted to ask about Embry's father on her way out the door." He chuckled to himself, "Psychic," he repeated to himself as if the thought was too ridiculous. He shook his head.

Embry made him a coffee; anything to butter him up.

When he placed it in front of him, he looked apologetic. "I know, but I can't tell you," he said. "Tribal Rules prohibit me telling you anything that was discussed in that meeting. That part of the meeting was held 'in camera'. "

Embry sighed. "I didn't think of that."

"In camera?" queried Quil, "they took photos?"

"NO, honestly! What do they teach you in school these days?" it was clearly a question he had asked often, and to which he had never received an adequate answer. "It was to be kept secret; not to be discussed outside of that meeting." Then he caught sight of the book Quil was reading. "At least they have you studying the classics."

Quil rolled his eyes. "I finished school… remember?"

"So what are you doing sitting around here on your lazy ass? Go get a job, boy!"

Quil completely ignored him. Embry chuckled.

"Let's just go," suggested Quil. "We can talk to Paul and ask him and Bella if we can borrow the truck. There's a mattress in the back, if it takes more than a day…"

"If it isn't Billy Black, then the prevailing wisdom seems to be that it is Uley or Waggener," agreed Embry. "Yeah… let's do that."

"Go?" asked old Quil.

"To the Makah reservation. I want to find my family."

"And Mum said she'd pay for the fuel," Quil added. He watched Embry. "Come on man, it will be an adventure."

"Have you discussed this with your mother?" old Quil asked.

"No," said Embry; and that was all he said.

There was silence.

"Keep an eye on Collin and Brady, they look ready to pop," old Quil advised them.

"Cool," said Quil, "new wolves. I'll tell Jake for you."

FF_2154210_ - 6/01/2011 01:05:00 PM


	5. Chat to Paul

**Chapter 5 – Paul chat**

Disclaimer: _ the characters and all recognisable situations belong to Stephenie Meyer- this is a work of fan fiction, except for the legends and histories of the Quileute that, of course, belong to them. I pay my respects to their gods._

_Thanks to BanSidhe for betaing_

They spent half the day playing X-box and eating everything in the house. They knew Paul finished work in the early afternoon, so they headed off to Paul and Bella's place to talk to them about the truck.

"We do need to get real jobs, you know Quil."

"Yeah…I know," he didn't sound happy about it. His grandfather was teasing but it must have worried him at some level.

"It's cool that they pay us a stipend now for the pack duties but it barely covers the food bill."

"Paul is working for Sam in his construction business, Leah's a cop. I help Mum out in her shop when I can, but she doesn't pay me for it."

"What can we do?"

"Jake dreams of a proper garage business. The man is an engine whisperer. We could be his business partners, you are really good with motor bike mechanics, and you'd be a whiz with the costs and balancing the books. And I have the people skills," suggested Quil.

"Maybe so, but we need capital to start a business… and where do we get that? No bank is going to give us a loan," Embry sounded knowledgeable.

"The poor reservation boys… you could be right."

"It's not just that," pointed out Embry, "no bank will loan you money if you can't pay it back, and you have nothing for them to take as collateral. We don't _own_ anything and it would be a big ask to get your Mum to put up her businesses as collateral, and the other parents have nothing. We are financially screwed."

They had reached their destination by then. Bella was just unloading some groceries. They helped her carry them into the house.

"What's up, guys?"

Embry spoke, "Would it be okay if we borrowed the truck for a couple of days? We'll put fuel in it for you."

She looked curious.

"Tell her," Quil suggested.

"My father… I … that is _we_ want to go up to the Makah reservation and see if we can find out anything about my family or my father."

"I thought Paul's father was one of the options?" Bella asked as she started putting groceries away in the cupboards.

"We are not sure… but we have tried to find out what we can… and so far we have kind of ruled out Ateara, Hudson, Clearwater and I suppose Black."

"That just leaves Uley and Waggener," Bella pointed out.

"Exactly," said Quil, "but Embry hasn't met his mother's family either. So he needs to do that too."

"Absolutely you can have the truck. Paul and I will manage, for as long as you need it."

She finished putting away the groceries and she gave them cake and sodas. They loved Bella's baking.

Still thinking about jobs, Embry asked, "How is Paul's construction job going?"

"Good I think. He only started recently, but he is a lot smarter than he sometimes pretends to be, so he should pick it up quickly. He and Sam get on well together. So I think it will work." She looked at the clock in the kitchen, "He should be home soon. Did you want to wait for him?"

"I have to ask him some stuff about his dad if he is okay to talk about that."

Bella looked concerned. "He doesn't talk about them at all; his parents," she clarified. "And we have still never heard anything from either of them. People," she muttered and shook her head. Paul's father had been a violent drunk; he had beaten his wife and only son until Paul had phased and became strong enough to fight back. Noah Waggener had left the reservation, but Paul's mother had followed him and left Paul on his own at the age of seventeen.

Paul arrived home just then. He was dressed in bib and brace overalls and nothing else. He was covered in dust of some kind. "Hey Baby," he greeted Bella with a kiss. She sniffed at him.

"Timber dust," he explained, "we were replacing some guy's windows today. What's up with you guys?"

Bella gave them a look and interceded on their behalf, "Embry wanted to ask about your father." She tucked herself in close to him as if she thought the subject would upset him.

"What the fuck for?"

"Did he ever go to the Makah rez… do you know?" Embry asked.

"No idea; but he used to take off a lot. Get on some bender and wake up miles away with no money and even less brain cells. It got worse over the years. I guess early on, he must have been a bit of a charmer." Paul looked down at Bella, she was still tucked in close to him, but now she had her hand inside the front of his overalls and she was sniffing at him again. He continued to speak, but she was badly distracting him, "Twenty years ago, he would have been more than capable of charming his way into your mum's pants, if you don't mind me saying so… before the booze made him even less attractive… Bella?" he was looking inquisitively at her now.

"You smell good," she made 'good' sound like it had eight vowels.

He blinked. He looked at the guys. "Enough?"

"We're borrowing the truck," said Quil quickly before they were thrown out.

"Okay," agreed Paul, he was back looking at Bella now. He pulled her shirt out at the neck and looked down her front. He somehow made it look seductive.

Quil stood and grabbed Embry and hauled him out of the kitchen.

"What the fuck?" asked Embry.

"Exactly," said Quil.

"What...?"

They heard Paul talking to Bella. "Jesus woman, if I had known being a tradie turned you on this badly, I would have done it months ago. Can I have a shower?"

"No," she said.

"Okay then," he agreed, his voice dropping. Embry thought he heard something else dropping as well.

He rolled his eyes. "Everyone is getting some, except us, Quil," he complained.

"Yeah," agreed Quil, "and what is with those two and kitchens? I mean do you think it is safe to eat Bella's food?"

"Ewww, now you tell me!"

"Man, I hope the keys are in the truck, because I am NOT going back into that kitchen now," muttered Quil.

Luckily, they were; and the mattress was in the back, rolled up under a tarp. They jumped in the truck and took off back to the Ateara house.

"Are you going to ask permission from your Mum to leave?" asked Quil.

"No."

"Wohoo, rebellious Embry," teased Quil.

"I'll pack a back pack and be back at your place at…what time should we head off?"

"Four?"

"Good; I'll see you then."

"Shit we need to ask Jake first!"

"If he and Leah are fucking, I am contemplating suicide," Embry said vehemently.

Quil just cackled with laughter. "One day dude…one day…" as he pointed the truck for the Black house.

"Where are you going?"

"Leah's at work. Jake will be in the garage."

"Phew."

They piled out of the truck and yipped to let Jake know it was them and not Bella.

"Blast from the past eh?" joked Quil.

"Gone are the days when Bella used to come visit me in the garage," sighed Jake, too dramatically to actually be serious. "What's up, guys?" he asked as he stuck his head back under the bonnet of whatever he was working on.

"Can we head off on our trip to Neah bay?" asked Embry. "You know to the Makah Reservation?"

"Now?"

"Well… yeah… if that's okay… and if the patrol is covered… and," Embry's voice trailed off. He hadn't thought that Jake might say 'no.'

"It's fine; Paul and I have got it covered. He should be home from work soon and I will give him a ring."

"Leave it for a while," commented Quil.

Jake frowned at him, "Why?" he asked carefully.

"Evidently he smelt… how did she say it… 'goooooood'," Quil tried to copy Bella's voice.

Jake rolled his eyes. "For fuck's sake… those two…" He paused suddenly. "Not in the kitchen again?" he asked.

"Yeah… what is it about them and kitchens?" Quil asked him.

"No idea. You know years ago, I would never have put her with him; but the two of them are actually pretty good together."

"She probably stopped him becoming his father, you know," Embry commented. The others just looked at him. "He was heading that way… the anger, the women… it would be his greatest nightmare now, but he was balancing on a knife edge when he imprinted on Bella," he blustered.

Jake looked thoughtful. "Damn Embry… you're right. Except for the drinking; the wolf stopped that." Jake made another thoughtful noise, "Sometimes I think imprinting is a crock and sometimes it seems like a good idea." He shook his head as if he couldn't work it out right now.

His attention flicked back to Embry and Quil. "You two go, and I hope you find what you are looking for, Embry. Let me know if there are any problems or vamps in the area or whatever. Okay?"

"Thanks Jake." Embry gave him that hand clasp, back slap thing that served for a hug among guys.

"We have to pack, Quil, come on."

"Oh, Jake, before I forget, Old Quil said Collin and Brady are hot enough to fry an egg on. He reckons they need watching; they must be close to phasing."

"Sure, sure. I'll watch them."

FF_2154210_ - 7/01/2011 12:45:00 PM


	6. Chasing squirrels

**Chapter 6 Chasing squirrels**

Disclaimer: _ the characters and all recognisable situations belong to Stephenie Meyer- this is a work of fan fiction, except for the legends and histories of the Quileute that, of course, belong to them. I pay my respects to their gods._

_Thanks to BanSidhe for betaing_

**AN: speech in italics indicates they are phased**

Quil and Embry decided to take the scenic route; it was unlikely they would get another holiday in the recent future so they thought they would have fun on their little road trip. They headed out of Forks in Bella's red rattler and started up route 101-N heading northeast. Bella and Paul had earnt cool points with them for letting them borrow the truck and Quil's mum gave them fuel money and some extra spending money. If anyone knew how much they could eat, it was the mother of a wolf pack member.

They headed through the small town of Beaver and turned left at WA-113 onto N/Burnt Mountain Rd. By the time they reached Beaver Lake Quil was ready for an excursion into the forest. He was nearly as bad as travelling with a small child.

It was a wonder he hadn't asked 'are we there yet?' Yet. But his fidgeting was making Embry crazy. He'd have to let him drive the next section. They had gone less than 10 miles! Maybe it was just because the forest was so close or maybe it was because they hadn't phased yet today; that always made them fidgety.

The road went along the edge of the lake. It was beautiful. They found a place to stop the truck and headed off into the forest. Quil phased and went for a run. Both phased they could communicate with no problems. They also had a quick conversation with Jared before he finished whatever he was doing and phased out.

_Quil: __Hey Embry I found a friend._

_E: another squirrel__,__ Quil?_

_Q: No look__. _He flashed him an image of a wolf. _Come __and __play._

_E: sure, sure, I'll be there in a minute._

Embry made his way to Quil through the forest. When he saw him, he bit back a laugh.

Quil was gambolling with another wolf; seriously, that was the word for it. They were playing. Dancing around each other, she literally nipped at his heels.

_Q: look Embry, I think she likes me__._

_E: you are out of your tree Quil. Too much time imagining what Jake and Leah get up to in wolf form._

_Q: I__ haven't__ seen her around here before and she seems to be alone._

_E: that's weird; usually lone wolves are male._

Embry actually shook his wolf head and sat down on his haunches to watch them; the thinner gray wolf with the dark spots on his back, who always sat so patiently watching.

Trust Quil to find a real wolf to play with.

_E: She's a little bigger than the average wolf. Are you sure__,__ she is a 'she'? _Embry teased.

_Q: hell yeah. She smells good too._

_E: __Seriously,__ weirding me out here dude._

The female seemed to give him a close sniff; checking him out, in wolf terms.

_E: phase back and show her what you really are Quil. That will get rid of her __in double quick time._

_Q: awww do I have to…_

_E: yeah come on, we have things to do and chasing squirrels with pretty wolves isn't on the list._

_Q: so you think she is pretty too, huh?_

_E: Jesus… yes__,__ she is a fine piece of wolf girl flesh. Come on Quil. _Embry did a passable imitation of rolling his eyes in wolf form and snorted at Quil.

_Q: yeah, yeah all right already_

Quil's wolf stopped and stood straight on his four legs; the other wolf stopped as well, she tilted her head and studied him. She acted as if she didn't know this game and she wondered what he was up to now.

His body gave that peculiar shudder from nose to tail and he phased back to a human; rising to two legs as he did so. He towered over her now.

The female did** not** move. She was frozen where she stood.

Embry phased back quietly and slipped his cut offs on. Quil was just staring at the female. He didn't move either. She sniffed at him as if to ascertain that he was still the same male she had been playing with seconds ago. Then she approached him and shoved her nose into his thigh. He made a noise of surprise and a little bit of a laugh.

She licked his leg.

"Shit," Embry breathed. "She's not running away Quil."

"No, she isn't. Is she?" he actually crouched down and stared into her eyes. She still didn't move. A normal wolf would probably have attacked him, at the very least they would have run away.

But then she licked him again; right up his face. He laughed and fell back to sit on his butt on the forest floor.

Embry laughed. "Maybe she is domesticated; an escaped pet or something."

"No collar," pointed out Quil. "Damn hard to domesticate wolves too, you know."

Then her body gave the same peculiar shudder as Quil's had done and she phased into a girl. Standing straight and tall in front of Quil; and just as naked as he was.

Her arms were quite thin and wiry; her legs long for her body, and slender. She had satiny copper coloured skin with a few scars here and there; old injuries that had healed but left their marks. Her hair was not quite black, more a very dark brown with a tiny hint of red in it and down the side of her head she had a shock, a streak of lighter coloured hair that was a honey brown colour. It matched her wolf colouring. It hung to just below her shoulders. However, it was her eyes that marked her as really different; she still had wolf eyes in a human face. They were dark at the centre and faded to a light hazel on the outside; almost a yellow. They were beautiful eyes, but they didn't look human.

She was not as tall as Quil; he had topped out at just over six feet but made up for it in his body width. She was probably 5ft3 or so, as a human. But she was thin, she wouldn't have weighed more than 110 pounds (50kg) .

"Holy fuck!" said Embry.

Quil stood slowly; he could not take his eyes off her. She wasn't distracted by anything else either. Quil had _that_ look; the one Embry knew from all the other pack members who had found the centre of their universe.

"Quil?" Embry was tentative. He had an awful feeling he knew exactly what was happening.

Quil took a step towards her and reached out a hand to touch her cheek. Without taking her eyes off him, she leant her head and pushed against his hand. It seemed an odd gesture to Embry and something struck him as wrong about this picture. Not wrong in the sense that his best friend had just imprinted, but there was something niggling at Embry; he just couldn't see what it was.

They both stood there, unmoving for a minute.

"Dude," Quil breathed, "do you know what just happened?"

"I think I can guess," sighed Embry.

"Hello beautiful," said Quil in that deep voice he reserved for chatting up girls. He was standing even closer to her now; there was barely a sliver of light between them. It looked as if it took more effort to keep their bodies apart than it would have taken to close that tiny distance. "What's your name? Mine's Quil," he told her seriously.

She opened her mouth, and then shook her head as if she didn't have the words or she couldn't speak. She sniffed at him again.

"No name?" he queried. He sniffed at her as well. His hand was still against her face and he bent his body around her and pulled her face towards his. Embry could not take his eyes off them. Their lips touched and Quil kissed her, exquisitely softly and gently. It was remarkably unlike him.

As his head drew back, she licked him again.

"Look at her eyes, Quil."

"She's been in wolf form for a while, like Sam's greatest fear. Remember when he was stuck for weeks." Quil spoke quietly as if he didn't want to spook her.

He stroked her face.

"We'll look after you now, Honey," Quil assured her.

She reached up and touched Quil's chest. "Quil," she said softly.

"Yeah," he breathed at her. He put his hand down and touched his chest. "Quil," he repeated. Then his hand moved to her; he touched her on the shoulder and raised his eyebrows.

She blinked. Then she smiled and touched him again. "Quil," her hand moved back to herself, "Pititchu," she stated.

She touched his face. "Qahla," she said and kissed him.

Her name meant 'moon' in Quileute and she had just called Quil the word for 'sun'. Embry shivered; he couldn't help it. It was spooking him out big time. He sat down on the forest floor as if all the strength had just gone out his legs. "What the fuck are we going to do?"

Quil and the girl, Pititchu, were still staring at each other and didn't answer him. At least they weren't doing anything else, he thought gloomily.

"Leah is going to love her," he said vehemently.

The girl looked at him and then back at Quil with a question on her face.

"Oh... Embry," he answered her. He touched his heart. "Friend," he stated.

"Does she have a sister?" asked Embry, "I am so tired of being the only one without a girl," he grumbled.

Quil laughed but then his face fell. "Shit, does she have a family, a mum… how the fuck is this going to work?"

Embry snorted, "If I was you, I'd be worried about meeting her dad."

She clutched at Quil's arm; she must have realised he was upset about something. "Quil?" she asked; she sounded concerned.

"Yeah Baby," he said as his arms folded around her. He hugged her as if she was the most precious thing in the world to him.

Embry sighed again.

Pititchu looked at Embry again. "Pack," she stated.

"Yeah that's right... he's part of my pack."

"No pack," she said it achingly sadly and shook her head.

She made an odd little snuffling noise, rubbing her face on his chest and tucked herself in as close to his body as she could get. He hugged her again and rubbed his face on her hair; making small crooning noises as he did so.

"Guess that means she doesn't have a family," commented Embry.

When Quil straightened up, he met Embry's eyes with a new determination. "She's coming with us," he stated.

"I know," agreed Embry, "we won't leave her behind."

88888888888

FF_2154210_ - 8/01/2011 01:12:00 PM


	7. On the road again

**Chapter 7 – On the road again**

Disclaimer: _ the characters and all recognisable situations belong to Stephenie Meyer- this is a work of fan fiction, except for the legends and histories of the Quileute that, of course, belong to them. I pay my respects to their gods._

_Thanks to BanSidhe for betaing_

They phased back to wolf form and Pititchu seemed ecstatic to have found them. She danced around them, wagging her tail happily.

All three of them made their way back to the truck. She had no clothes, so Quil dug into his back pack and found a t-shirt and shorts for her. They were huge on her. Embry felt more comfortable now she was dressed.

Quil didn't want to drive now; he wanted to sit in the front and hold Pititchu's hand and gaze into her eyes. Embry thought it was barf worthy. They barely spoke.

Embry watched her. Other than the freaky eyes, he still had that odd feeling about her but he just couldn't work out what it was. They planned to spend the night at Clallam Bay. They weren't going to waste money on accommodation. The mattress in the back of the truck was the plan for sleeping arrangements but now, they had an extra body.

Embry was feeling like the third wheel in a big way.

He should be so happy for one of his best friends but he couldn't help feeling left out.

Again.

He was so tired of all the imprinting, dating and soon to be fucking, if these two were left alone for five minutes. He was sulking and he knew it, but he couldn't stop himself.

As they approached the town, Pititchu got really nervous.

"If she has been phased for a long time Quil, maybe she'd be happier like that," Embry suggested.

"Yeah, I suppose it is like culture shock if she has avoided towns and people for a while."

She was cowering into his chest.

"Can you stop the truck?" Quil asked.

"Sure." He found somewhere to pull over.

Quil pulled her in close to him and spoke meaningless words in a crooning, soft voice. His hands rubbed her ceaselessly; a contact that seemed to calm her more quickly than his words. She started to quiet after a couple of minutes of that. Once he had calmed her down enough to be able to listen to him, he spoke to her, gazing into her face, with the same quiet intensity. "Do you want to phase back? You want to be a wolf? You can stay with me, I won't ever let you go," he assured her.

She just nodded at him. They hopped out of the truck and disappeared into the woods for a minute. When Quil walked back, he had a wolf following at his heels and he was carrying her discarded clothes in his hand. He opened the truck door and she jumped up into the cabin. She tried to turn around on the seat before she sat down.

Quil climbed in and shut the door. She stood across his body with her head out the window and he put his arm around her neck and rubbed his face on her fur. She sat down. Quil's arm tightened around her like a seat belt.

Embry restarted the truck and they headed into town.

Clallam Bay was a little town with an unattended airstrip and a ferry connection to Canada and Seattle. It was a holiday destination for bird watchers, divers and kayakers. There was a marina and the road ran along the edge of a narrow beach. The sunrises across the bay were supposed to be great.

Quil stayed in the truck with Pititchu while Embry went to buy some fish and chips for dinner and some sodas. He came back to the truck and handed over two lots. "I might go down and sit on the beach and eat mine. You two gonna come?"

"Yeah. Come on girl," Quil encouraged.

She whined but followed him out of the truck. She seemed more scared of staying in the truck by herself. They found a spot on the beach and lay down on the sand to eat their dinner.

Quil fed chips and fish to Pititchu.

A tourist wandering past saw her. "Wow, is that a wolf?" he asked.

"No," said Quil confidently, "just looks like one. She's a husky with a lot of wolf in her family somewhere."

The guy accepted that. "She's a beauty," he told him.

"That she is," agreed Quil. She waved her tail enthusiastically. She knew they were talking about her.

They made small talk about the view and then the stranger headed on.

Embry just smiled.

Quil gave him a look and fed her some grilled salmon. She licked her lips.

"You want a swim?" Quil asked as he stood and ripped off his t-shirt.

Embry almost answered him until he realised he was talking to the wolf. They ran into the water together. No one else was swimming but it didn't worry them. Embry fought with himself and tried again to be pleased for Quil. He lay on his back on the sand and thought at least the trip wasn't a total waste. Quil had imprinted. He watched them play. She bowed her front down to the ground with her rear up in the air and wagged her tail. She really did look like a dog now.

Quil tapped her on the side of the muzzle in a game and she tried to snap at him.

They would really have to try to get some more information out of the girl when she got a little more… human, he supposed. Maybe she had family that were looking for her somewhere.

They only had 20 maybe 25 miles to go on their big road trip too. They would need to find somewhere to park for the night. They didn't want to pay camping fees if they could avoid it.

He closed his eyes and wondered how much longer he could stretch out a less than three -hour car trip; two hours if you went on the main roads. He was feeling doubtful about the whole thing. He was sorely tempted to just turn around and head home.

This wasn't like him; this whole idea was Quil's and he had come along for the ride. But now he had doubts and Quil was all kinds of distracted at the moment.

He sighed heavily and lay there until his trip buddy finished playing.

They drove a little further out of town and found a fire trail off into the woods. The truck had no problems making it up the road a little way. Enough so that they were out of sight of the road. Just in case, a ranger came along. It would be pretty unusual, but they were careful in any case.

Quil and Pititchu phased and headed off into the woods for the night; leaving him alone. He supposed that was thoughtful of them. He didn't feel happy though. He fell into a troubled sleep, lying on the mattress staring at the stars.

* * *

The next day Embry woke and called into the forest. He made that high-pitched yipping noise that was a standard amongst the Quileute kids. Quil would know it was him. They headed in to town to find some breakfast in a café. Pititchu returned to wolf form and was a very well behaved 'husky'. Quil fed her sausages from his plate.

After breakfast, they headed further north, following the road along the cliff to their final destination. She phased to human for the car journey and she and Quil could barely keep their hands off each other in the front seat. Embry wondered exactly how much sleep they had last night.

They pulled into the Makah Reservation and she managed to stay human, clinging nervously to Quil's hand. They parked in the car park of the Makah Cultural and research centre.

"Look, Embry…," started Quil.

Here it comes thought Embry.

"…This is really something you should do on your own. We will meet you back here at the cultural centre later. What time would suit you?" finished Quil.

Embry resisted the urge to sigh. "Why don't we say sunset?"

"Yeah, that'll work," Quil beamed at him and punched him in the shoulder. The girl smiled at him. "See you later dude." They jumped from the truck, Quil grabbed his backpack from the rear of the truck, swung his arm around Pititchu's shoulders, and they started to walk away.

Embry felt suddenly really alone.

He looked up at the front of the research centre and then noticed another sign for a tribal council office next door. That might be the place to start.

He went in to the office. There was a woman behind the counter who was busy with some paperwork. He had a look around for a few minutes while he worked up some courage. The tribe had almost 1,300 members but around 900 lived on the reservation. That made it more than double the size of La Push. The Makah tribe hosts its annual major public gathering, Makah Days, in late August. It features a grand parade and street fair as well as canoe races, traditional games, singing, dancing, feasting, and fireworks.

Currently, many Makah tribal members derive most of their income from fishing.

Blah, blah, blah. Enough avoidance tactics, already. He went over to the counter trying to look more confident than he felt.

"Excuse me."

"Can I help you, young man?"

"I hope so; I am trying to locate the Call family. Would you happen to know their address?"

"Oh yes, I know them," the woman smiled at him. She gave him a closer look. "Of course," she said. She wrote an address on a piece of paper and handed it to him. He asked for driving directions and she walked outside with him to point out the way he needed to go. He thanked her and hopped into the truck.

She stood there and watched as he drove away. It crossed his mind that she could be running inside to phone them and warn them a stranger was about to visit.

The tribal marina was really impressive. They didn't have anything like it in La Push. Bigger tribe, more money he supposed. More tourism here too. Many people came here to travel to the furthermost western point of mainland USA.

He followed the woman's directions easily. He couldn't sit outside the house and work up the courage, as the noisy truck announced his presence from miles away. Most of the houses were a standard white clapboard design. Most were single storey dwellings, with small porches and not much in the way of gardens. The climate would be pretty harsh here, facing Canada across the straits.

He checked the piece of paper again. Then alighted from the truck and made his way to the neat front door. He rang the bell, took a step back and waited. He tried hard not to hold his breath.

FF_2154210_ - 9/01/2011 12:43:00 PM


	8. A wolf at Grandma's house

**Chapter 8 - A wolf at Grandma's house**

Disclaimer: _ the characters and all recognisable situations belong to Stephenie Meyer- this is a work of fan fiction, except for the legends and histories of the Quileute that, of course, belong to them. I pay my respects to their gods._

_Thanks to BanSidhe for betaing_

**AN: I know Embry's name is supposed to be from a soap opera but I cannot find a listing for it on IMDB, but I will stick with the prevailing wisdom**

An older woman opened the door; she was speaking to someone behind her so he got a good look at her before she turned her attention to him. She was dressed in an old checked shirt, jeans and solid hiking boots. She had the look of someone who had spent a lot of time in the outdoors.

Her reaction to Embry was entirely not what he expected. She almost jolted. Her knuckles went white on the door frame and her other hand lifted to cover her mouth as it fell open in shock. Clearly, she knew who _he_ was; now all he had to do was find out who _she_ was and why she knew him.

She made some small noise but couldn't speak. He heard a male voice call out to her, "Who is it Mum?"

When she didn't answer, the speaker approached. "Mum?" he asked again. Embry said nothing; he didn't even know where to start. His carefully thought out and prepared speeches all deserted him; the ones he had been practicing for years. The speaker appeared in the door frame behind the old woman and then he caught sight of Embry over her shoulder. "Holy fuck!" he exclaimed.

Embry nearly said the same. It was almost like looking in a mirror.

He had found his family.

"You must be Marlena's boy," the man told him in a breathless voice.

"I must be." It was stupid but he didn't know what else to say.

The man spoke to the older woman, "Come on Mum; pull yourself together. Tell me you are not going to have a heart attack on me." He pulled her gently away from the doorway. She had not taken her eyes off Embry.

"Invite the boy in, for goodness' sake," he chided her.

That seemed to work; clearly, she was a good hostess, because that snapped her out of her reverie.

"Please come in, young man." She told him; her voice only quavered the tiniest bit.

"My name is Embry," he told her sincerely, "Embry Call."

She reached out and clutched his hand. Family; she was his family, and she was holding his hand. He nearly cried. She pulled him into the house. She smiled at him.

She wouldn't let go of his hand. He didn't really mind. She patted the back of his hand with her other hand.

"I am your grandmother, but I suppose you may have guessed that. And this," she gestured at the man, "is your uncle Roman; your mother's youngest brother."

Embry nodded at him.

"Freaky," Roman said. "You are a lot taller than me, but you look just like me." He seemed pleased. "You could almost be my brother."

They stood in the centre of the living room; the old lady still clutching his hand. They were just looking at each other. Embry didn't know where to start.

Eventually she got herself together.

"You must have so many questions," she stated.

He just nodded.

"Please," she gestured at the lounge for him to take a seat. He sat.

"Roman, the photo album," she instructed. He looked confused. "You know which one."

He came back after a time with a small, leather bound album. She opened it and seated next to Embry, with their bodies rubbing, she showed him the pages. It started with a newborn shot and a small card to say it was a boy. No name. He supposed a name could have been used to trace him. There was a photo from each year. Very carefully posed with nothing in the background to give away his location. Not even a mountain. No school uniforms or friends …just him.

"I never knew she did this."

The old woman asked the question that had perhaps been worrying her since his arrival. "Is she…?"

Oh crap, he had never thought of that. "She's not dead," he interrupted her. "She's fine. But she doesn't know I am here."

The old woman looked relieved but then she began to chuckle. Embry didn't get the joke.

"So you are a rebel, too?" she asked.

"Me? Oh no, not normally," he said as he realised that his coming to the Makah rez without his mother's permission _was _pretty rebellious. Wait a second… his mother was rebellious? No way!

"_**She **_was a rebel?" he choked out.

The old woman chuckled again. Even Roman smiled.

Suddenly the woman smacked Roman up the back of the head.

"Oww!" he clutched at his head. "What was that for?"

"Language," she told him, "at the door. Did you think I didn't notice?"

He looked sheepish, but he smiled at her. "Oh come on, it was a big shock…"

Embry chuckled. But then he was serious again. "What happened?" he asked.

The woman sighed. "So many stupid mistakes," she said. "Sometimes a parent says something they wish so hard, could be taken back… but once it is said…" she shook her head. "Her father, may his spirit be at peace, was so strict. She was the eldest; he hadn't learnt to be a little more flexible. His way was the only option. And like all children, she didn't agree."

"Well for goodness' sake... I haven't even introduced myself! Where is my mind?" she patted his hand again. "My name is Raven Call."

"She never changed the name?" he blurted out. Surely they could have found her if she hadn't even changed her name? Why had they never tried?

She was still touching him. "You are so warm," she exclaimed.

He felt a sudden, overwhelming urge to reveal his secret to this tiny old woman he had only just met. The same secret he had kept from his mother for years. He didn't understand it.

"High metabolism," he tried to rationalise.

"Humph," she said. No fool, this woman.

Just then, his tummy growled. She laughed. "Boys! Always hungry. Why don't we make it lunch time and you can ask me anything. I am so tired of secrets."

He agreed; both on the lunch and on the secrets.

Raven bustled around the kitchen making sandwiches. Roman got drinks and then sat and watched them.

Embry took a seat at the kitchen table, tried to take a leaf out of Jake's book, and just listened. He felt somehow, that this was a story Raven needed to tell.

"Marlena was a good girl. She did well at school. I had hoped for a bright future for her. The unemployment rate here on the reservation is over 50%, but I always felt she would not be in that group. She was a little argumentative but I know now, compared to the others," she gave Roman a look, "she was really not that much trouble. Her father was very strict. He didn't tolerate dissent in his household. He was not a violent man, but he was a strong one. It was his house."

"He took it upon himself to find her an appropriate husband. I told him it was doomed to failure, but he wouldn't listen to me either. He knew best. Or so he thought. The first child always has it the hardest, don't they?"

"He explained all this to Marlena and she did not take it well. She saw it as an arranged marriage and she was outraged. It was completely understandable under the circumstances, but her father…" she shook her head.

"She refused to meet the young man involved. She refused to be involved in it in any way. She must have known him from the town, but I don't know if they had met. I never got to ask her."

"She went out one Friday night and she didn't come home. I was so worried for her and so angry with my husband."

Roman looked intrigued. Embry thought perhaps he had never heard the whole story either.

"I don't know where she met him. But she spent the weekend with him. Sowing her wild oats, I suppose you would call it. I don't know if she just intended to do that and then comply with her father's wishes… but when she came home…" she sighed heavily. "Things were worse. She and her father barely spoke. She still refused to meet the young man her father had chosen for her. And then the worst happened, she found out she was pregnant."

"Did you know him?" He meant the father; the desperate need came through in his voice.

She looked astonished. "You're not with him? We thought you were a family. She told me she was going to get married, I am sure she did. I thought that she had married and changed her name. It's why we never tried to find her. I thought she was better off," her voice rose with her panic.

Embry just shook his head. "She never married him' she never married anybody. I don't even know his name," he admitted.

"You mean, this whole time…" her voice caught in her throat. The enormity of her actions struck her and she rushed at him and hugged him.

And he cried. He cried the heavy tears of a fatherless child. He sat and sobbed and he clung to this woman he had only met half an hour ago.

"I am so sorry," she apologised. "I didn't know… I am so sorry. I abandoned her… I thought she was happy." She sobbed now, with the realisation that her daughter had been alone all these years.

Embry felt another arm around his shoulders and realised it was Roman. He said nothing, just hugged them both. Once everyone's tears were spent, Roman spoke. "Let's try to fix some of those mistakes, eh Mum?"

She found a handkerchief in her pocket and wiped at her face. She took a seat. The sandwiches lay uneaten on the table. No one had an appetite right now.

Embry thought that it might be his turn to talk.

"She was pregnant when she came to the Quileute reservation; to La Push."

"So close," Raven breathed. She clutched her fist against her chest.

"I guess she went there because my father was Quileute. She got permission from the tribal council to stay there, and because I was a half blood and was born on the tribal land, the tribe adopted me. Nevertheless, she has never said who he was. I still do not know. There is a short list of suspects, for want of a better description. But, I still _don't know_. She never married and she never dated."

"Oh the silly, stupid girl," her mother berated. "She always was so stubborn. Why on earth didn't she come home?"

"She wouldn't have been welcome, Mum, you know that," Roman pointed out. He looked at Embry. "He used to hang up on her if she phoned. I was only little, but I remember that. She tried for a while, but then she just gave up." He looked down at the table. "Who could blame her?"

No one had an answer to that.

"The only contact we had was your photos, with no return address and usually posted from odd places; all over the country," Raven said. "No letters; just a note about how old you were." I thought she must have been doing seasonal work, picking fruit or something to travel so much. I never thought…"

"She must have given them to other people or tourists to post for her," Embry worked out.

"The kindness of strangers," said Raven, "when her own family…"

"_Fixing _the mistakes," Roman reminded her before she got herself upset again.

Embry had to eat one of the sandwiches sitting in front of him. His grandmother rubbed his shoulder.

Everyone was silent for a minute or two.

"He's gone now, though, right?" Embry checked. "She could come home now?" he sounded so eager.

"Yes, that's it," agreed Raven. She looked energised. "I will go back with you to see her. Roman, you organise a get-together for next Saturday. I want the whole family here."

"There are others?" Embry asked.

"Yeah," Roman smiled at him, "two more brothers and a sister." He grinned, "And they all have soap opera names." He risked a glance at his mother. She rolled her eyes.

Embry chuckled, "Me too," he pointed out.

"Oh, of course!" Raven spoke. And then she laughed. "She always said it was silly, but no sillier than animal names, like Spotted Horse or Raven."

"You have no idea how much crap I copped because of my name," Embry sounded vehement.

"Oh, I think I can guess," said Roman.

"Like my friend Quil…" he started, "he gets lots of shit for his name."

His grandmother frowned at him.

"Sorry Gr…" he stopped. He did not know what to call her.

Her face softened, "I would be honoured if you would call me Gran; everyone else does."

**AN I tried to find the Makah word for grandmother – but couldn't – the last fluent Makah speaker died in 2002 – and**_** that**_** is a tragedy, that a whole language is lost.**

FF_2154210_ - 9/01/2011 01:03:00 PM


	9. Family ties

**Chapter 9 Family ties**

Disclaimer: _ the characters and all recognisable situations belong to Stephenie Meyer- this is a work of fan fiction, except for the legends and histories of the Quileute that, of course, belong to them. I pay my respects to their gods._

_Thanks to BanSidhe for betaing_

Embry found out that his mother was the eldest at 38. The others were Cooper, who was 36, Sydney 34, Maggie 30 and Roman was the youngest and was 26. Three boys and two girls. Embry had never heard his mother mention any of them. Their names all came from the television soap opera 'Days of Our Lives'. Raven was a huge fan of the show.

He thought it was interesting that she had kept that particular idea going with his name. Who knows what she was thinking nineteen years ago. It may have been a moment of remorse. No, maybe not remorse… Maybe it was an attempt to reconnect with her mother on some level. Continuing the family tradition of soap opera names; clinging to the familiar. When did things become a tradition? How many times, or for how many generations did you need to do something, before it became a family 'tradition'?

His aunts and uncles were all married with kids of various ages. He was the oldest grandchild by a long shot. The others were all under twelve. Roman was the odd one out, as he was still single and living on the reservation. The others all lived from Seattle to Boston. She seemed disappointed but understanding, that they had needed to leave the reservation.

Embry was overwhelmed with information and images of partners, babies, toddlers and gap-toothed kids. There seemed to be a dozen of them. He just tried to take it all in. He didn't offer any information about himself; that could come later. He was here now to learn about them.

Raven complained, like all doting grandparents, that she did not see her grandchildren enough. The fridge was covered in childish art works and homemade cards. She adored them all. His heart hurt, that he had missed out on all of that.

They ate, they drank, they told stories, and they tried to teach him a lifetime of family history in one day.

It was overwhelming.

* * *

**_Boy fight_**

He was back at the cultural centre sitting on a bench facing the ocean. He had arrived early; he just needed some time to rebalance himself. He had sat on the bench and watched the ocean for a long time before he heard Quil and Pititchu approaching.

Pititchu was back in wolf form. The thought crossed his mind that she made a better wolf than a girl. That made him think.

She sat next to Quil when he threw himself onto the bench; he looked happy. He rubbed her head and scratched behind her ears. She looked towards the water and back at Quil.

He just intrinsically understood her. "You want to go get wet?" he patted her on the head and stroked her muzzle. "Sure, off you go. I just need to talk to Embry for a minute. You be careful," he called after her when she took off for the water. She ran straight into it with droplets flying everywhere in the early evening light.

Embry spoke without thinking, "She makes a better wolf, than she does a girl."

"Ha," snorted Quil, "you're just jealous." He sounded smug.

Embry had had a very emotional day and everything was still really close to the surface. "Look at her Quil… there's something wrong… I just can't work out what it is… but there is something wrong…"

"Wrong? There's nothing wrong! I imprinted; you didn't. Get over it, Embry."

"Imprinted? You're blind, Quil, you can't see what is right in front of you." Embry snapped back. Shit, they were fighting; they never fought. Well they did, all the time, but not about anything truly serious, and he could tell from Quil's trembling body that this mattered big time to him.

"You are just shitty because you don't have a girl and you're not getting any. Seth does better than you these days."

"That is low! It was your idea to come on this stupid quest and now you've abandoned me," that was how he really felt. It did hurt him that Quil had abandoned him. Left him on his own when he really needed his support.

Pititchu had heard them fighting and now she slowly approached them; she slunk up the ground in a perfect imitation of a frightened wolf.

Embry waved a hand at her. "Look Quil, that's a wolf… not a girl!" He hissed at him quietly, so no one could overhear them.

"Fuck you, Embry!" Quil was trembling with rage. "Fuck you! I _will_ abandon you, all right. We are going home."

Embry didn't think that 'we' included him.

Quil grabbed the leg tie rope out of his back pack, then threw his it into the truck and his shirt followed after. He stood there in his cut-offs and bare feet. He was shaking with rage.

"You are a coward Embry… you are so frightened of finding out who your father is, that you would rather **not** find out… you'd rather spend your whole life not knowing and that's just," he struggled for a word, "…chicken shit," he finished lamely.

He was walking away and Embry could do nothing to stop it; it was like an avalanche.

"Come on, Baby," Quil called to his imprint.

She slunk past Embry with the whites of her eyes showing. He felt an urge to kick her, which was so completely unlike him, he felt sick to his stomach. He sat there with his head in his hands and he wanted to cry again. "I'm sorry, Quil," he apologised aloud, but he knew they were already gone.

He sat there and felt completely alone. The recent discussion of his father made him think about his Mum. How alone must she have felt all those years ago? Rejected by her family; young, pregnant and with nowhere to go. His heart ached for that young unwanted girl. He kind of understood why she would not let anyone be close to her again. It was fear. What if it all happened again? What if she got involved with someone and they dumped her too? What if they broke her heart as profoundly as his father must have done?

Quil might be right about him being too frightened to act; but clearly, it was genetic.

He was his mother's son.

They were so busy fighting, he had not even managed to tell Quil the good news; that he had found his family.

He uttered one strangled sob and that was all he allowed himself. He tried to pull himself together. He was not alone. He had a pack; he had friends… well maybe one less right now.

He sat there for a while, and then he got to his feet, turned and ran across the road. He needed to find somewhere to phase. He needed to apologise to his friend.

It did not take long before he had found a patch of greenery that would do for hiding in. At least the early evening made for better camouflage as well. He listened carefully but could hear no one nearby. He stripped off and with his body low to the ground for extra cover, he phased. He knew Quil would 'feel' him. He couldn't feel Pititchu, but she wasn't part of the pack yet; not until the Alpha accepted her.

_I am__ sorry Quil; I apologise. __She is__ beautiful.__ And I know you love her._

He didn't wait for an answer, he knew Quil could hear him. He just phased back again. It was all he could do. He would not ask him to come back. He had fucked this up big time.

He found himself back on his grandmother's doorstop. He literally had nowhere else to go and part of him just wanted to be here.

She opened the door and took one look at him, and held her arms out when she saw his face.

And he cried, for the second time that day. He really_ was_ becoming a chicken shit.

FF_2154210_ - 10/01/2011 09:48:00 PM


	10. Wolf laps

**Chapter 10 wolf laps**

Disclaimer: _ the characters and all recognisable situations belong to Stephenie Meyer- this is a work of fan fiction, except for the legends and histories of the Quileute that, of course, belong to them. I pay my respects to their gods._

_Thanks to BanSidhe for betaing_

He was fed until he could not eat anymore. His grandmother did blink at how much he could eat and he tried really hard not to eat everything, but it was like comfort food for him right now. She wanted him to stay. He told her he had been sleeping in the truck and she would not hear of him going anywhere else right now. Roman had gone home. He lived in another house in the Bay area.

He asked permission to phone the Black house. He had left his phone at home so that his mother could not harass him. He was hoping to catch Jake in the garage but he was out. But he spoke to Billy. He told him he had found his grandmother and he asked permission to stay for a couple of days. Billy was genuinely pleased for him. He said that he would speak to Bella about the truck and most importantly, to Embry's mum. Embry confessed that he did not want to talk to her right now. Billy understood. He told him to take as long as he needed and he would sort it with Jake too. He took down Raven's details in case they needed to contact him.

Embry told him Quil was coming back; if he wasn't already there by now. He wanted to say something about Quil's imprint, but he thought better of it. He had done enough damage already. That was Quil's news to tell and he wouldn't rain on his parade.

He lay that night in the guest room. Clearly, it was Raven's sewing room. There was a small table with a sewing machine and an overlocker squeezed onto it. It was full of stacks of plastic crates of material and half-finished quilts. Some finished squares were pinned to a cork board. She must have been trying to arrange one when he arrived and threw all her plans out the window.

The room smelt warm, if you could say that warm had a smell. He could pick up traces of lavender and cedar; she must use cedar balls to stop the moths getting into her material stash. He wasn't sure how to describe it, but it smelt like a home. He slept amazingly well and woke refreshed and recharged.

He pushed away his plate after demolishing an entire dozen eggs and half a loaf of bread. They spent the morning going through more photo albums. It was going to take a while to get the whole family back together, longer than the week she had hoped for.

Embry tried to tell her about himself but there wasn't that much to tell. He had finished high school; he wouldn't be going to college. He couldn't tell her why, because of the pack secret. He liked fixing up dirt bikes and riding them. He had two best friends and a bunch of others. He did not have a girlfriend.

Raven was determined to come back to La Push with him and he agreed.

She made him take her shopping. He was displayed for the whole town. She introduced him to everyone she knew.

"Whoa Raven," said the grocery store owner, "Cooper has been a _very_ bad boy."

She just laughed, "No Bernard, this is Marlena's boy. Isn't he handsome?"

"Marlena's…" the shopkeeper was astonished, "Now that is a blast from the past. I haven't even heard her name mentioned in years…," he muttered. He pulled himself together and held his hand out to Embry. "Pleased to meet you, young man."

Embry shook his hand. "That is some handshake you've got there. You been feeding him up Raven?" he commented with a pointed glance at her grocery basket.

"Nothing but the best for my grandson," she beamed.

She was proud of him; it was a new emotion for Embry; pride.

After another salmon dinner with a stack of fresh vegetables, they sat companionably, listened to music, and talked about everything. From Native American politics, how things worked on the Makah reservation compared to the Quileute, the worrying unemployment rate on the rez, to how many quilts she had made and how she loved giving them away to others.

She sat and sewed; she explained she hated not having something to do with her hands.

Embry told her one of his best friends was like that. He told her about Jake and how he used wood carving to think. He explained that Jake was the chief's son, and what a hard life he had had, losing his mother and being a carer for his disabled father.

Raven said she could not wait to meet them all.

He sighed when she asked what had happened with his friend with the unusual name. Embry just said they had fought over a girl. He was silent for a while, thinking through all the stuff about Pititchu. He would talk to Jake about it; that would work. Quil's life had not exactly been easy either. Fuck, none of the pack had a story book history. Except maybe Jared. Count them… one.

Eventually they got to the topic of his father.

"And she never told you anything about him? Nothing at all?" Raven queried.

"It's weird huh? I think I kind of worked it out yesterday," Embry stated, "Fear. She is terrified of being hurt again."

"She has it all wrong," Raven huffed. "Isn't the saying 'it is better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all'?"

"She's definitely in the latter category," Embry snorted. He looked at his grandmother, "What about you?" he asked. He was not really sure he had the right to ask.

"I loved your grandfather, but he was a hard man. But you don't get to choose who you love, do you?"

That suddenly struck Embry. Imprinting was just like falling in love on steroids. You didn't get to choose, but sometimes you didn't anyway. It was love at first sight, wolf style. It might even be better, because you had the knowledge that the wolf gods considered this person the perfect mate for you, for whatever reason. So maybe you could trust them to get it right, more than you could trust yourself. How often did people fall in love with the completely wrong person?

"He looked after his family," she continued, "and he did get a little more relaxed with the younger children. I suppose he and Marlena were just too much alike. They clashed more than all the others put together."

"At least she had siblings," he sounded bitter.

She gave him a look.

Then he wanted to tell her more. "One of the guys on the rez is probably my half brother, but I don't know which one." He fiddled with his hands in his nervousness. "That's what started this whole trip; the not knowing was getting to me. It was making me crazy… I mean I have a brother and maybe more family and I don't even know who they are…"

She reached out hand to him and he took it. "When you find him," she told him earnestly, "you bring him to me. He's my family too."

He beamed at her and squeezed her hand.

He pulled himself together and patted his stomach. "I need to go for a run... a jog," he corrected himself.

"I think I will be in bed by the time you get back." She started to put away her stitching. "Give me a hug," she ordered.

He crouched down and hugged the tiny woman who had made a place in her heart for him. "Good night Gran."

He went to the guest room, dumped his shirt, and grabbed the leg cord.

Raven was in the hall with some towels for him to have a shower.

"You be careful out there in the dark," she told him. She gave a pointed glance at his bare feet and shirtless get up. Raised her eyebrows but said nothing.

He hugged her again, just because he wanted to.

She walked him to the door and watched as he ran off the porch and into the late evening. He jogged evenly and slowly until he reached the forest, then he could increase his pace. He wanted to phase; he felt joyous.

He phased and felt Paul; he must be on late patrol.

_E: hey Paul._

_P: Embry. How goes it__,__ my man?_

_E: good. I found my family._

_P: Dude that is great!_

_E: yeah… my Gran is so cool. _He tried to flash Paul a melange of what had happened, Roman, the photo albums, and his new Gran.

_P: excellent. I am really happy for you._

He wanted to tell Paul more but was worried he was boring him.

_P: I have to go, Bella __wanted me home on time. You'll be back soon?_

_E: yeah …soon._

_P: see you then. _And he phased out.

It struck Embry, that Paul had no family at all anymore. Only Bella. She was his entire family now; his whole life. And he had imprinting to thank for that.

He went for a quick run up to Cape Flattery. It was only about four or five miles away so he did another lap.

Paul did not mention Quil; that was odd. Maybe they were going to the long way home too. Probably still playing in the forest.

Embry felt a chill.

She had wolf eyes; when they phased they kind of kept their human eyes. At least they looked like it. She had the yellow edged eyes of a wolf. She turned around before she sat for fuck's sake; they might spend hours as a wolf, but none of the pack did that! Her human hair was wolf coloured, not black. And her speech was weird.

She must have been a wolf for a very long time. He thought again about imprinting. Quil was the one of them who had been so excited to become a wolf. He had revelled in it from the first day. It had made him so happy. He got his friends back and he had made his family proud.

Quil was the one of the pack who would almost be happy to be a wolf full time and he mates with a wolf girl. What were the odds?

Why had he chosen that word? 'Mate'?

He shook his head; he was tired. He thought about going for a swim in the ocean but worried about making Raven's house sandy and salty. So he let himself in the front door, latched it behind him and fell into bed.

FF_2154210_ - 11/01/2011 05:29:00 PM


	11. Embry and the girls

**Chapter 11 Embry and the girls**

Disclaimer: _ the characters and all recognisable situations belong to Stephenie Meyer- this is a work of fan fiction, except for the legends and histories of the Quileute that, of course, belong to them. I pay my respects to their gods._

_Thanks to BanSidhe for betaing._

Embry's new grandmother proudly displayed him for the entire reservation. He would swear that he had actually shaken hands or been kissed on the cheek by every single girl on the reservation; and by single he meant every girl, married, single, available or not. Plenty offered him way more than a kiss on the cheek. Whispered assignations in his ear, a lingering touch on his arm, a head tilt and a measured eye-fuck; he knew all the signs after his nightclubbing experience. Those he got plenty of. Some were even from the older women.

He could also tell from the whispered mutterings from the men folk, that his welcome mat would be whisked away very quickly indeed, should he show even the slightest interest in any of 'their' women.

He was distinctly hoping that he would not need his strength or quick healing. He didn't feel like fighting this week.

And not a single earth shattering 'oh my god' I have found the centre of my world type look. No, not for him.

No imprinting.

Bugger.

He did rather have a now distinctly disappointed air; he must have thought that he would find 'her' here. He had not even realised that he had thought that, until it had **not **happened.

And because he was so intent on finding 'her', he wasn't looking at women in the way you normally would if you were looking for love or woe betide it, some quick human interaction like a bit of flirting or maybe even sex. He was staring intently into the eyes of every woman he met with no reaction. It was becoming obvious that he was not reacting in a 'normal' fashion, whatever the hell normal was.

He thought about the pack; Sam, Jared, Paul, Quil all imprinted. Jake and Leah were together in every way. It would be just him and Seth still looking.

* * *

**_Fishing_**

His new uncle Roman took him deep sea fishing one day. They mostly used it as an opportunity to talk. Roman worked at the dive shop but it was truly seasonal work.

"Marlena and I are twelve years apart. I don't even know her. She's just been the absent sister for so long, there isn't really anything I can tell you about her."

"What about your father?"

"Like Raven told you, he was a lot less strict on me. Lucky for me, damn, I did all the usual boy stuff you know?"

"Under age drinking… ," from Embry.

"Trying to smoke dope…"

"Messing around with dangerous things like motor bikes…" Embry added.

"And women," Roman finished for him with a laugh.

There was silence for a while.

"With the age difference I was all of six maybe seven when she got the 'never darken my door again' speech."

Embry just waited for him to get out what he needed to say.

"I felt guilty when I got a bit older… all I was thinking when my sister got kicked out of home, was 'all right, I get my own room'… I never thought about her or what was going to happen to her," he gave Embry a look, "Or the baby. I am not even sure I understood there was going to be a baby."

"You were a kid Roman; that's how little kids think."

After another long pause Roman spoke again, "you know… we all kind of got the speech."

Embry looked quizzical.

"The 'never darken my door again' speech. My father was very strong in his views and once you got to an age where you opened your mouth and expressed an opinion; he could not cope. And especially if that opinion was diametrically opposed to whatever _he _thought."

**[AN: if Embry is 19, that makes Roman ****about ****26]**

"He was strong, but oh so inflexible. I always thought of him as one of those big trees. You know the ones like the massive cedars around here. They look solid until their foundations loosen a little and the right storm hits them and then they just fall. I think he never forgave himself for driving her away and she, being just as stubborn and inflexible as he is, wouldn't swallow her pride and ask for help."

Embry thought about that. "She's stubborn all right. She will not even tell me who my father is, and she_ must_ know. Especially if she spent the whole weekend with him. La Push is such a tiny community, how could she have kept it a secret for so long? It is as if she is terrified of me finding out, and that, I just do not understand. She has always had the idea that if we do not talk about something it somehow just goes away. Which, of course, it doesn't."

Roman snorted. "She sounds exactly like her father." He reeled in his line for a couple of minutes. "Not dealing with stuff is not a solution; it just festers. You are a good kid Embry and because she is _not_ talking to you,… you have _almost_ run away from home… and you are not talking to her. You are just trying to find out the truth but if she had just told you…" Roman gave him a balancing look. "I'll bet you have stuff that is really important to you, that you haven't told her about, because she doesn't encourage communication."

Embry thought about his werewolf secret; the secret he kept from his mother, and how accurate Roman's assessment of the situation was.

"What did you do that earnt you the speech?"

Roman laughed. "I could see it coming a mile away so I moved out of home when I was seventeen. Mum was not happy, but I made sure I stayed on the rez. Got into a share house with some other guys. Left my father with some 'face' and stayed close enough to keep Mum happy."

He looked sad for a second. "The others all ran as fast and as far away as they could."

* * *

**_Death by cop_**

**Meanwhile back at the rez…**

Paul and Jared were on patrol when they picked up a vamp scent.

_Jared: can we handle it Paul? Should we get help?_

_Paul: let's see if we can investigate a little more, first._

They scented and followed the trail. It seemed to be leading to a clearing they knew lay up ahead.

_J: what the fuck?_

_P: Jared how sneaky can you be?_

Just then, they heard a female voice cry out. It was very loud; louder than a human could shout. "Kill me!" it commanded.

_J: what do we do, Paul?_

_P: (snorts) guess we could kill it._

_J: don't you want to know why?_

_P: nope._

Jared gave off waves of confusion.

_P: just stay here, Jared. __I'll__ investigate._

He loped to the edge of the forest. Standing in the centre of the small clearing with her arms outstretched was a female vamp. She was just standing there. Tears of shiny venom dripped down her cheeks.

Paul stuck his head out of the forest. The movement made the vamp turn freakily fast towards him. He gambled on still having time to escape her or call Jared before she attacked him. But she didn't seem like she was going to be attacking anything today.

"Kill me," she begged him.

He shifted on his paws and moved a little further into the clearing.

"I know what you are," she hissed at him.

He couldn't answer her in his wolf form. Should he take the risk? Jared gave off more waves of worry. He thought it was a trap.

Paul made a decision. He phased and stood naked on the edge of the clearing.

"Why?" he asked her. She would have been a relatively pretty brown-haired woman, except for the sunlight glinting off her skin. She looked like all hard diamonds to him. Not attractive at all. But now she was a 'her' not an 'it.'

"You killed my soul mate," she said with a sob.

He heard shuffling in the forest behind him; Jared had followed him. So much for obeying the beta's orders. Paul raised an eyebrow at him.

Paul thought about it, they hadn't had many vamp kills lately. Then he remembered the night Jake had been injured by a newborn vampire whilst he was saving Leah.

"The hiker," he guessed.

"Yes," she hissed it at him.

He remembered Quil's discussion about whether vamps mated for life, like they did. She must have imprinted on the hiker or whatever the vamp equivalent was; and then she had changed him so that they could be together forever. Maybe they had arranged to meet in the woods or something, so that his family didn't know.

"I've tried to live without him," she sniffed, "but an eternity without him is too much."

"You loved him."

"Yes and there will be no other," her language sounded a little old fashioned, or stilted as if she was much older than she looked.

"You've tried?" he asked. What the fuck did he care?

"Yes and …I cannot."

Paul stood there and looked at her. He thought about how he would feel if Bella died. She was his whole life. He started to walk towards the vamp. Jared whimpered at him.

He walked across the clearing towards the stricken woman. Funny, how he thought of her as a woman now. He had no idea how old she was and she had given up her will to live, after mere months of being without _him_.

He stopped half a dozen paces from her. She knelt on the ground like a victim in front of the guillotine.

"You promise not to attack me?" he asked. Stupid question, as if he could trust her.

"I promise. Please kill me quickly," she begged.

"Okay," he agreed.

He stopped in front of her and he spoke very, very quietly so that Jared could not hear him. "I would want the same… if it was my mate… I hope you find his spirit…" and he reached out with his bare hands and twisted her head off.

The body collapsed in front of him. He held the head firmly so that she didn't bite him. He thought he heard her emit a breathless sigh. He stood there, looking at her still tear stained, but now peaceful face, until Jared approached and started collecting wood for the fire to burn her.

They didn't speak as Jared found the lighter in his pocket and lit the kindling. Paul placed the head gently on the fire, while Jared tore her body into little pieces and they watched as she burned.

When they got home and reported to Jake, he went off his nut. He was furious, shouting at Paul that she could have bitten him, or even scratched him with a tooth and he would be dead. He just said 'she promised' and then he walked away.

Bella understood and held him hard.

FF_2154210_ - 13/01/2011 02:13:00 AM


	12. The short trip home

**Chapter 12 Embry's Makah days**

Disclaimer: _ the characters and all recognisable situations belong to Stephenie Meyer- this is a work of fan fiction, except for the legends and histories of the Quileute that, of course, belong to them. I pay my respects to their gods._

_Thanks to BanSidhe for betaing._

Embry spent a couple of days with his grandma looking at old family photo albums. She was really intent on telling him all about the Makah people. They had lived in this area for 3,800 years. Nearly 4,000 years! That just blew him away. She insisted on taking him down to Lake Ozette and showed him the archaeological dig. The nearest city to here as the crow flew was actually La Push and he was sure he had run through here on patrol, but it had no meaning to him then. Now it was part of his history. He was half Makah after all.

The roads down to the site were 4WD accessible only, but Raven had clearly done this before. She huffed at him when he asked how old she was but eventually admitted that she was under 60; she stressed the under part. She had got married when she was 20 and had his mother when she was 21. She said that was half the problem; that she was too young. She just chatted away as she skilfully drove the 4WD through the forest. Embry just listened.

Lake Ozette was like the Makah's own little Pompeii.

A mudslide in the late 17th century had buried an entire village. Most of the exhibits in the cultural centre in Neah Bay had come from here. It had been reburied but Raven said he still had to see it. There was a caretaker but he had so few visitors he spent most of his time carving cedar canoes.

He felt a twinge for the Quileute; some lunatic who had wanted their land had burnt the entire village to the ground in 1889 and they had lost all their ancient artefacts in one fell swoop. .org/wiki/Quileute_(tribe)

At least the Quileute were ahead on their oral histories. Smallpox had hit the Makah so hard with the first contact with the illness that they had lost many of their stories; people died too fast to pass them on. .com/2010/02/20/samuel-hancock-witnesses-smallpox-among-the-makah-1853/

Embry could not imagine turning into a wolf if he had not had some background of how important it was to his tribe. 'His tribe' the Quileute or the Makah? But which was 'his' tribe or was he part of both? Roman had told him that the Makah were really strict on bloodlines to be part of the tribe. Because he had been adopted by the Quileute; he may never _officially_ be Makah. It didn't matter how strong his bloodlines were. He literally could not be both. He supposed at some level, that the wolf had made the decision for him. He could never live in Neah Bay; never be a true part of this tribe.

They made plans for the trip back to La push. He could tell Raven was a little nervous about it. He supposed she was not sure of her reception, she still felt that she had assumed Marlena was happy and had not even tried to find her. She argued that she had done the wrong thing. Embry pointed out that Marlena had either lied to her directly about the marriage or let her believe it. Either way, she had not wanted to be found. Raven just disagreed.

Embry knew when to keep quiet on some things. He was a little nervous himself. He thought his mother might be really angry with him.

He was also worried about Quil. And Pititchu; he supposed he had to include her in any Quil issues now too.

It seemed like far too soon for him when he loaded up the red truck and took his grandmother back with him. She had arranged for people to collect her mail and keep an eye on her house. It sounded to Embry like she thought she would be gone for months.

Roman had been left to organise the family get together. Like all family things where many people were involved, it was getting complicated.

Embry asked were they doing anything for Raven's 60th and wouldn't it make sense to do it all then. Roman hugged him so hard he felt bruised and told him that was a great idea.

* * *

**_The short trip home_**

Embry and Raven took the trip back to La Push. No scenic joyride this time or stops in the woods to play with wolves. They took the 112 and the 101 and were at the rez in less than two hours.

He was as nervous as Raven when they pulled up in front of his house. Half the reservation must have heard Bella's old truck. He had told the pack he was bringing his grandmother and they must be keeping a low profile. That alone worried him.

"This is it," he stated and turned to look at her. She looked panicked. "It'll be all right. She wants to see you, I know she does."

"No you don't," pointed out Raven.

"Fine," sighed Embry. "Whatever, I brought you all this way and you are not backing out now. Besides it is me who will cop it, not you."

"What do you mean?" Raven asked but he did not answer her.

He was going to walk around and open the truck door for her like a perfect gentleman, when the door of the house was flung open and his mother came running out.

"Embry?" she called hopefully.

"Hey Mum," he walked up and he hugged her hard. He had missed her.

She inhaled and then it started, "I have been worried sick about you. Where the hell have you been? How dare you run off like that without telling me? What on earth did you think you were doing? And just where were you anyway?" Her voice was rising to a level only heard by dogs and unfortunately wolf pack members.

He took it all in his usual stoic fashion. His head dropped and he didn't say a word in his defense. Raven was so astonished, she hadn't moved from the truck and Marlena had not noticed her.

She opened the door and Embry turned to help her from the truck.

Marlena continued, "I am talking to you…don't you walk away from me when …"

Raven stepped down, with Embry's hand. She came out from behind the truck door and she glared at her daughter.

Embry was worried this was all going to hell in the first five minutes.

"Stop it!" Raven shouted at her. She gave Embry's hand a quick squeeze and then let go.

Marlena just stood there with her mouth hanging open.

"I taught you better manners than that!" Raven said in a much lower, quieter voice.

Marlena gulped.

"This beautiful boy, tracked me down and brought me here as a surprise for you and you are so busy screaming at him like an appalling fishwife that you didn't even notice," Raven managed to sound both angry and disappointed with her.

Marlena was still staring at her.

"Are you going to invite me in or have you forgotten _all_ your manners?"

Marlena finally found her voice again, "Mum?" she asked tremulously.

"Yes, I'm your mother. Good God girl, have you forgotten what I look like as well as where I live?"

"Mum?" she tried again.

"Where's your husband?" asked Raven with a wink at Embry.

"Husband?"

"You told me you were getting married… inside that house girl," Raven threatened, "you have some explaining to do and you had better put the kettle on."

She leant over towards Embry and whispered, "Run" to him.

He did.

FF_2154210_ - 12/01/2011 03:47:00 PM


	13. Quil meets Raven

**Chapter 13 Quil meets Raven**

Disclaimer: _ the characters and all recognisable situations belong to Stephenie Meyer- this is a work of fan fiction, except for the legends and histories of the Quileute that, of course, belong to them. I pay my respects to their gods._

_Thanks to BanSidhe for betaing._

Embry ran to Quil's house. He was dying to see if he had got back safely and how Pititchu was settling in.

He barrelled in the back door without knocking. "Quil?"

"Embry?" but it was Pititchu who answered him. She came into the kitchen and he froze where he was. She was wearing an old button up shirt of Quil's, but it was unbuttoned and she was pretty much not wearing anything else.

"Hey," he said, averting his eyes. "Is Quil around?"

"Water."

He looked confused for a second. "Shower?" he clarified.

She nodded happily.

"You need some more clothes," he reminded her, waving a hand at her unclothed state.

"Oh," she said and scuttled out of the kitchen.

He shook his head and helped himself to some food out of the fridge. Clearly, it was still taking her a while to settle in, but she was at Quil's house, so his family must be okay with it.

"Dude," he heard behind him.

They stopped before they hugged each other but then Embry took the last step and hugged him anyway; one of those boy type shoulder slapping hugs but a hug none the less.

He must have accepted Embry's apology.

"Your family?" Quil asked.

"I found them Quil… I have an uncle who is only 26 and three others I haven't met yet and Raven is my grandmother and she is seriously cool… you should see how she drives a 4WD…"

Quil beamed at him. "I'm glad."

"How is she settling in?" They both knew he meant Pititchu.

"Not bad, she still forgets stuff sometimes…"

"Like clothes?" suggested Embry with a smile.

Quil grinned wickedly. "Like I care… So what's happening?"

"Raven, my grandmother came back with me…"

"Whoa… really? Well let's go see her… Pitchi…" he called.

"Quil?" she came in, mercifully dressed now.

"Embry and I will be back in a minute. Are you okay or do you want to go for a run and I'll track you later?"

She looked so excited. "Forest," she stated.

Quil pulled her in close and kissed her. She kissed him back and went to take her clothes off. Quil grabbed both her hands. "Outside," he reminded her, "in the forest… remember?"

"Sorry," she looked really apologetic. He kissed her again. She skipped out the door. Quil watched her go and Embry watched Quil.

Quil looked back and met his gaze.

"I'm really glad you found her. She's pretty special," Embry was totally sincere.

"Yeah… she's one of a kind, my girl," he looked so proud of her. "We play a kind of game," Quil explained, "she phases and I track her through the woods."

"Sounds like fun," said Embry, "better than chasing squirrels," he laughed.

"Oh yeah," Quil agreed and they headed off for Embry's house.

"Hey Quil, how did Leah take meeting Pititchu?" Embry asked.

"She growled at her," Quil sounded offended.

"Well of course she would."

"What?"

"She's competition for Leah. Leah is the Alpha female. She had to make sure that Pititchu understood that right from the start. If Pititchu was not so submissive, we would have a literal bitch fight on our hands."

"Oh," said Quil as if he had not really thought that one through. "Why didn't you tell me?"

Embry chuckled. "You were kind of busy, and then we fought and I offended you." Embry held his breath; he really hoped they didn't start another fight.

"Yeah…I suppose," grumbled Quil.

Embry thought his mother looked like _she_ needed rescuing when they came into the kitchen. She looked distinctly unhappy.

"Raven, this is my friend Quil. You kind of didn't get to meet him in Neah Bay. He's the one who went with me."

His mother's eyes narrowed at the news that Quil was his willing accomplice but then he always had been with Embry from the time they were tiny little boys; Quil and Jake. It was always the three of them. Who on earth did she think he would have gone with?

It suddenly occurred to Embry that his mother would not approve of Pititchu; especially if she wandered around half clothed. There is no way Quil could explain imprinting to her, so she probably just thought Quil had found this weird girl. He gave Quil a look, but of course, he had no idea what Embry was thinking right now.

He gave her another look. Funny considering what a naughty girl she had been as a youth. In a way, he was oddly disappointed. He thought he might think it was cool that she had done naughty stuff but instead he thought she had not been true to herself. To have abandoned it all so quickly. She probably thought Pititchu was some drug-addled hippy; that was one of her favourite expressions. 'Look at that girl,' she would say while she was watching the television, 'carrying on like some drug addled hippy.'

It crossed his mind that she might have taken drugs or smoked some pot on her wild weekend with his father. Might explain a lot of things; especially her hatred of all things drug related now. Roman had said she was a lot like her father; she really **was** like him now. She had his intolerance as well. So much for learning from your mistakes.

What was that saying: _We dislike most in others what we hate most in ourselves_.

Embry looked at Quil. He had become almost as good as Embry at ignoring Embry's mother.

He just turned on his usual charm and he and Raven were laughing within minutes; Quil regaling her with funny Embry stories. The amount of things he and Jake had talked Embry into doing. And that was always the way it had gone. Embry was the voice of conscience; the one who said he didn't think it was a good idea. 'Won't we get into trouble?' was Embry's most voiced statement as a child.

"How old were we when we went frogging that time?" Quil asked him.

"I dunno… five?" said Embry.

"And you slipped on a rock, fell and split your head open on some sharp stone in the river."

"Jake was trying to help me and you were all upset because I had dropped the container of frogs and they all hopped away."

"And the time we stole Harry Clearwater's boat and nearly crashed it on the rocks of James Island."

"Oh my," said Raven.

"And the time we left Embry in the barn after we were jumping from the loft."

Embry rolled his eyes. "I **told **you I had broken my leg." Embry humphed, "some friends you are, to leave me there… it was ages before somebody heard me. I think it was Old Quil who heard me calling out in the end."

"Oh yeah…" agreed Quil, "he tore strips off me for that one."

They continued on telling Raven more war stories.

* * *

Embry accompanied Quil to the edge of the forest. "Just for interest, Quil, what does my mother think of Pititchu?"

Quil twisted his lip. "She doesn't get why I have come home from a weekend away, with a girl who lives with me and my family is okay with it. Marlena frowns at Mum when she sees her around the rez."

"She would," agreed Embry.

"We can't really tell her about imprinting, the big pack secret and all."

"No," agreed Embry.

"She thinks she is a bit odd…" Quil added.

"A drug-addled hippy," they both said at the same time and then they laughed.

Embry clapped Quil on the shoulder and watched as he happily took off into the forest to find his girl. He set off to return the truck to Paul and Bella.

FF_2154210_ - 15/01/2011 12:59:00 PM


	14. Finally, it happened to me

**Chapter 14 finally, it happened to me**

Disclaimer: _ the characters and all recognisable situations belong to Stephenie Meyer- this is a work of fan fiction, except for the legends and histories of the Quileute that, of course, belong to them. I pay my respects to their gods._

_Thanks to BanSidhe for betaing._

**Hallmark it is not**

Raven and Marlena lasted two days together before Raven was phoning someone to come and get her. In many ways, they had a heap of stuff to climb over and it was too unrealistic for them to get over it all immediately. There were a lot of things to deal with.

Raven still felt angry that Marlena had lied to her and never asked her for help. As a mother, she was seriously disappointed with her own daughter. She was always going to regret missing the childhood of her first grandchild; regret never meeting him until he was nineteen. She had consoled herself with the idea that Embry was happy with his family; to find he was alone and fatherless was still too hard for her to deal with.

To find out he had always been so geographically close was unforgiveable.

Marlena on the other hand had real trouble with her mother coming in and bossing her around in her own house. Raven's disappointment with her seeped through in the way she spoke to her. They way Marlena had greeted Embry was horrifying to Raven. They way she constantly spoke to him, was more than Raven could bear and she told her so.

Clearly, they had major disagreements on parenting style.

She tried to tell Marlena to stop blaming Embry for her own choices and they had ended up in a humdinger of a fight.

Embry did not know how to deal with it, he felt like it was his fault that he had brought them together, and it was not working out like the Hallmark movie ending he must have had in his head. Raven had barely even met all the pack and he had really wanted them to meet her.

Jake and Leah had come over as soon as they were both available. Leah took him aside afterwards and said she loved Raven. She thought she was a kick-ass grandma.

He had all of Raven's contact details and Roman's and he promised her he would keep in touch regardless of what his mother did or said. He had given her a huge hug before she got in her friend's pick up and then he had just run for it.

Phased and run until he could barely run anymore.

Exhaustion was the only way to deal with his life right now.

He kept himself busy. Marlena was so shitty with him she had stopped shouting at him in the mornings, so that was a bonus. Nevertheless, she categorically refused to give him any information about his father. They continued to fight about that. She did not think it was 'necessary'. He didn't give a fuck what she thought. He said he was an adult and he had a right to know. She argued he had done all right without him so far. He _almost_ told her about the reduced list of options as pack parents but he bit his tongue. He assured he would not give up trying to find out the truth. Maybe it was because _her_ father was not her favourite person, but he thought she might try to be a little more understanding.

He was seriously thinking that Roman's idea of leaving home, before you could be thrown out was looking pretty damn attractive right now.

He tried to go nightclubbing with Seth but it was soul destroying. Quil was right; Seth _was_ getting more than he was these days. Jeez, what was he? Seventeen? It was too much for Embry to deal with. Being pawed at a club did nothing for his self esteem even if he did manage to get a fuck in the process.

In addition, every time he tried to talk to Quil about his concerns over Pititchu they had another fight. So now, he was avoiding Quil as well. He just didn't seem to be able to say the right thing at the moment.

He gave Jake some help working on the mechanic jobs he had. Anything to keep away from everything else in his life. But every time Leah came to join them, he burned with a jealousy he didn't know he possessed. He didn't necessarily want Leah any more; he wanted what they had together.

**What they all had.**

Quil and Pititchu were so happy.

Paul and Bella could not keep their hands off each other. Both were working and everything was working out in their lives.

Jake and Leah were the ultimate wolf power couple. Her volatility had been tempered by his quiet efficiency.

Jared and Kim were adorable.

Sam and Emily? Emily was pregnant and Sam now treated her like a goddess. He radiated pride and happiness. He had always touched her all the time before now, but now his hands went straight to that bulge and whenever he touched it; she glowed.

Seth grizzled about having to live with Jake and Leah and them constantly having loud, noisy sex, but Embry knew he loved it. He had a freedom seldom granted to seventeen year olds. In addition, with their wolf hearing and sense of smell, you could tell if _anyone_ in a house was having sex regardless of how noisy it was. It was just one of those things they had to learn to live with.

And Embry sulked.

He knew he was doing it and he could not stop himself.

* * *

_**Finally it happened to me**_

Embry was walking along First beach at La Push.

He was sulking again or still or… whatever.

What a complete crock. He had headed off on his big soul searching fucking exercise. An exercise in futility. He had felt he was guided by some innate sense that the answer to all his problems lay on the Makah reservation. He had come back uniformly disappointed. Leah had slept for two days and worked out _her_ problems. [in the story 'Where's my happy ever after?]

He had somehow managed to do his usual act and make everyone else happy. Quil had found an imprint, but not him. He had reunited his mother with her estranged mother; but that had ended up almost a complete clusterfuck and he still had no info about his real father.

He kicked at the ground in disgust.

He and Seth were now the last two wolves who had nothing and nobody. It was depressing. Nightclubbing with Seth was an exercise in moral depravity. He was still so freaking adorable that he attracted women who wanted to mother him. He was just happy to be out of the house; away from the endless drilling of Jake and Leah. Or that was what he called it.

At least it looked like some new wolves might be joining the pack soon; old Quil had pointed out Collin and Brady to the pack. They were pretty young but they had the whole body temperature; quick anger thing going on. At least Old Quil reckoned you could fry an egg on them. So now, they needed someone to keep half an eye on them. Why don't you do it Embry? He had heard the unspoken comment too; you have nothing else to do. He kicked at the ground again.

Or no one else to do.

He owed Jake a favour too for letting him have the time off on his fruitless search.

Fuck.

Fuckity fuck fuck fuck.

He felt better.

He risked a glance to see what said soon-to-be-wolf boys were doing. They were tossing a football on the beach. So cute. At least they were friends so that when the big phase happened they would have someone to be with, to go through it together. He could remember how terrified he was. And the pain at losing Jake and Quil; even just for a couple of weeks. Sam wouldn't let him near them and wouldn't let him explain why. He thought it was ridiculous and unnecessary at the time, but he got it now.

Leadership; hard decisions… yeah… whatever.

Kick.

He would have to just grow a spine and have it out with his mother. Tell me his name! Yeah… like that would work. Tell me the truth! You can't handle the truth. Yeah, yeah, he knew how that one went.

Whoever he was, she had tied herself into such a mess of knots, she could not see her way out of it now. And now the knots were tangling him up. Denial; the gift that goes on giving. That made sense…

He thought about it. Unless he told her, he was a wolf. And therefore, his father options were limited. And he had been denying that for so long too… she lied to him; he lied to her. It seemed fair.

Crock.

Kick.

Check on the boys. All cool.

Seriously? Did Jake think one of them was going to burst into fur on the middle of the beach?

Kick. Oww ow. "Ouch!"

His toe must have made contact with a rock under the surface. Fuck. That hurt.

"Serves you right," he heard, "you probably already killed a dozen innocent beach creatures kicking them."

Oh, crap. He knew that voice; it had tones of Jake's voice. Rachel Black.

"Hello Rachel," he said without even looking at her. His toe hurt and he was crouched down, flexing it to make sure it was not broken. It could probably heal immediately but still… ouch. "You back from uni?" Dumb question.

"No; I'm still** there**." He could almost hear her roll her eyes.

He sighed, let go of his foot and rose to his feet.

He rose quite a way now. Not as big as Jake, but 6ft 3 wasn't bad. And he may not have filled out as well as Quil, but he could still hold his own in the pack, so compared to any other guys, he was looking okay.

He heard her breath hiss as he stretched to his full height. Perhaps she wouldn't notice him sucking in his stomach. His grandmother had fed him up rather well in the last week and he had missed a few patrols while he was away. He could almost hear a Quil-like voice in his head. 'Dude, you trying to impress Rachel Black?'

"Embry?" she asked, "Embry Call?" she sounded uncertain.

"Yeah it's me." He took a final glance at the football-playing boys.

"You've…" she paused as if she was looking for a word, "…changed." She finally finished.

He turned to face her and was struck dumb. Oh Taha Aki; not Jake's sister!

He just stood there.

And there it was, the freaking golden glow, the strings attaching thing that no one could ever adequately explain. He thought it was rather more like a smack upside the head with angels or little tiny golden birds tweeting around his fucking head like a cartoon.

He was so immensely relieved it had finally happened.

"Embry?" she asked again.

She looked concerned and he took a tiny step towards her to reassure her that he was all right. But then she reached out and touched his face. There was some weird light in her eyes … and something within him just snapped. He grabbed her and he kissed her. He damn near took her face off, he kissed her so hard and she fought him, she whacked at him with her hands and then those hands that were hitting at him, somehow ended up fisted in his hair.

And she kissed him right back.

Try to impress her? Fuck. He had just torched every bridge he had ever crossed. What the hell was he doing?

He was kissing his imprint and he was not sure he was ever going to stop. He wrapped his arms around her back and hauled her whole body in close to his. She just seemed to fit right in there and he was fairly certain that she would be able to feel just how happy he was to have her there. He was really happy.

But then she started to pull at his hair again, and she eventually twisted her mouth away from his.

He panicked for a second, but then he realised she was staring at something past his chest.

"What the fuck…?" she breathed.

He turned with an ominous sense of foreboding. Yep, there was a giant wolf on the beach and a flutter of tattered clothing was still floating down to the ground.

"Oh Jesus," he groaned, "Jake is going to** kill** me…"

He started to tear his clothes off and hand them to Rachel as she stared at him in disbelief. "I'll be back and I will explain everything," he promised as he pressed his shorts into her hands, with a final quick peck on the lips, he ran naked towards the now terrified wolf and he phased on the run.

FF_2154210_ - 16/01/2011 12:51:00 PM


	15. Who just phased?

**Chapter 15 Who just phased?**

Disclaimer: _ the characters and all recognisable situations belong to Stephenie Meyer- this is a work of fan fiction, except for the legends and histories of the Quileute that, of course, belong to them. I pay my respects to their gods._

_Thanks to BanSidhe for betaing._

**AN: HA - you all forgot about Rachel Black for Embry's imprint, eh?**

It was Collin.

_E: Collin! It's Embry …don't panic man … just calm down and for fuck's sake get __**off **__the beach!_

He tried to ask Brady to come with them but of course, he must have literally barked at him. Poor Brady had no idea what was happening. Now there were two wolves. He just looked confused and half-terrified.

_C: Embry. What happened?… I can't talk... something happened._

_E: Just calm down. You have phased into a wolf …see…_he flashed him an image of what he looked like

_C: I'm a wolf!_

_E: Yeah... I need you to get off the beach and I will explain… into the woods please Collin.__ We need to hide._

Explain. With a sudden thought, he looked towards Rachel. She was still standing there clutching his clothes and he felt so nervous at the look on her face. But then as he watched, she lowered her face and sniffed at his discarded clothes and then she smiled.

He barked at her and she looked up and waved at him. She essentially fucking waved at him. He ran around in a circle; he was so happy. He actually wagged his tail.

_C: Embry?_ He sounded irritated.

_E: Fuck. Sorry Collin._

_C: __**She's**__ not frightened of you._

_E: __Damn__ right__,__ she's not!__ She's my imprint!_

Collin just sat down right where he was and titled his head to look at Brady. He was obviously trying to give him a wolf smile, but the big tongue hanging out the side of his enormous head was just freaking Brady out more. Clearly, Collin could not understand what Brady was seeing.

Rachel had walked over to Brady and she grabbed him by the arm. She shook him a little and he seemed to snap out of his shock. Embry yipped and headed for the woods.

_E: come on Collin, follow me. Did you guys fight over the football game?_

_C: yeah, I just got really angry… I mean it was irrational… __it was__ just a game you know?_He sounded confused now.

Embry went back to Rachel and licked her hand. She followed them. Brady came too, as if he could not make a decision himself right now. Or at least, he could not come up with any better ideas.

They made their way into the woods.

_C: why is Brady here?_

_E: we think he might phase too._

_C: but he hasn't._

Embry felt that kind of shiver that showed someone else had phased.

_**Jake**__: Embry what's happening? Someone said something weird happened at the beach…_

_E: yeah Collin phased but not Brady yet. Do we force it?_

He tried so hard not to think about it, but a memory of kissing Rachel flashed across his mind. He glanced at her.

_J: __What the Fuck__ … my SISTER you KISSED MY SISTER…why is she still there?_

_E: Jake please… can we talk about this later…_

_J: where are you?_

Embry flashed him the location. Jake sounded utterly furious. Embry went over to Rachel and tugged at the clothes she was holding with his teeth. She let them go and he trotted off purposely behind some trees, carrying them in his mouth.

_E: wait here Collin__,__ and I will phase back… I don't think you can manage it yet... it takes some time to learn __how to be human again __and I just have to check if Rachel is okay._

_C: she looks okay_

Embry almost growled at the way Collin was looking at _his_ woman.

He phased back, slipped his shorts on and nervously made his way back. Rachel was watching him.

"Brady, are you okay?" he asked.

"Yeah… I think so… just give me minute to…" his voice trailed off. His eyes were open but unblinking.

"Explain huh?" Rachel asked sarcastically. "You kiss me, tear your clothes off, flash me and then you turn into a freakishly giant wolf and you think you can** explain?**"

He snuck in closer to her, trying to look meek and not dangerous at all.

"Embry Call… I'm waiting for an explanation." She tapped her foot. She actually tapped her foot.

"You remember the stories? The legends of the tribe?"

"Are you seriously trying to tell me they are true?" she folded her arms across her chest.

"You just saw it Rachel. You know it's true."

"I don't know what I saw."

"Yes you do." He had reached her by now and he put his hands up carefully to touch the tops of her arms. He almost breathed easier when he touched her; this stuff was weird.

She looked calculating. "Why did you kiss me?"

Honesty; he would be honest, he would never lie to her… he just knew it. "Because I really, really wanted to," he confessed.

"Uh huh," she said.

"Really, really," he added for emphasis.

"So… can you do it again?" she asked reaching for his face.

He blinked. Oh, yes. He leant down and kissed her again. He started tentative and slow; the way he thought their first kiss should probably have been. He was trying to be soft and gentle but she didn't want it like that. She nipped at his bottom lip and he groaned and hauled her in close to him again. She smelt amazing, she felt amazing and she kissed him as if he was water to a thirsty woman. Her tongue was in his mouth and he felt her hand slip down the back of his cut-offs and press against his naked ass. He made some noise of surprise.

He completely forgot where he was, he forgot Collin was watching, but most importantly he forgot Collin was probably broadcasting the entire scene to Jake.

He remembered pretty quickly when the sound of vicious growling cut through the haze in his mind. Instinctively he turned and thrust Rachel behind him.

"By the power of grayskull," Brady shouted. "Who the fuck is that?"

"Holy hell," Rachel added, "That one is huge… who is it?" She clutched at Embry.

Embry sighed. "Guess."

The massive russet wolf growled and bared its teeth at him.

"No, I will not step away from her." Embry stated. He did not need to be phased to comprehend what Jake was saying.

Jake was in complete dominant status; standing stiff legged and tall. His ears were erect and forward and his hackles bristled slightly. He stared at Embry and Embry did **not** back down.

"He looks kind of angry," suggested Rachel. "It is a 'he', right?" She ducked down as if she was trying to check if the wolf had balls.

The lip of the russet wolf curled and displayed his huge incisors. He snarled at Embry. The noise itself was terrifying; the entire display was frightening.

"Pack leader," said Embry.

The wolf snarled again. Collin went instinctively into complete submissive mode; he rolled onto his back and exposed his vulnerable throat and underside. His paws were drawn into his body. And he was whimpering.

Jake completely ignored him. He snapped at Embry.

"No!" Embry shouted, "She's mine!"

Rachel was looking between Embry and the russet wolf. "Jacob?" she queried. "Embry is that_ Jacob_?" she was incredulous.

"Yes, and he is not happy with me."

Rachel moved from behind Embry so unexpectedly that he didn't have time to grab her. She stood in wolf Jacob's face and she shouted at him. "Don't you _dare_ think you can tell me who I choose to kiss… don't you pull this shit on ME Jacob Ephraim Black!"

The wolf jerked back when she started on him and he got an almost shocked look on his face. Embry resisted the urge to snort as his brand spanking new imprint shouted at the wolf pack leader.

He grabbed her. "Please Rachel…" he begged. She didn't move or back off. "Jake, you are frightening the younglings," he tried, in an appeal to the wolf leader. Maybe he could get Jake to back down instead.

The massive wolf swung its head and Brady jerked back in fear.

The head swung back to Embry and his eyes narrowed and he pulled back his ears. His tail pointed straight outwards parallel to the ground; it was the pose of suspicion. But then he dropped it, he knew Embry was right. Embry took the opportunity to drag Rachel back close to him. He tucked her under his arm, and a little behind him and she went willingly; that surprised him.

Wolf Jake leant in and sniffed at Brady. The poor guy nearly wet himself.

"He's not ready to phase yet," Embry explained.

"Embry?" Rachel rubbed her hand down his bare stomach.

"Rachel," Embry said her name like a prayer and gazed into her eyes.

Wolf Jake rolled his eyes at the look Embry gave her. He trotted off into the forest.

"Eww," said Rachel, "you mean I just tried to check out my brother's hairy dog balls?"

Embry snorted.

Human Jake returned in less than a minute. He stood in front of the two of them and sighed. "You kissed my sister." It was a statement.

"I imprinted on your sister," corrected Embry.

"**Fuck!**" said Jake.

"Imprinted?" asked Rachel, "what's that?"

"Love at first sight, wolf style," explained Embry.

"Oh," she said, then "_OH,"_ as she comprehended. "So you and me…" she trailed off and stared into Embry's face. The way the two of them looked at each other made Jake roll his eyes again.

"Oh for fuck's sake," he whined. "My _sister_?"

"Watch it boy," she snapped at him.

He sighed again. "Leah is going to love this…," he muttered.

"Leah?" Rachel asked, "What does she have to do with this? I mean I know she's your girl friend."

"She's a wolf too," Embry explained.

"Get the fuck out!" said Rachel.

Embry loved her more.

Wolf Collin had got back to his feet and was watching them with his head tilted on the side. Brady on the other hand, was winding himself up.

"This is ridiculous," he said, "You turn Collin into a wolf, you scare the living daylights out of everyone and then you stop to chat with your… sister? I don't believe it," his voice started to rise as he wound himself up.

Embry and Jake exchanged a look. Jake took a step closer to him and got right up in his face. "Yeah Brady… what are_ you _going to do about it?"

"You just can't go around scaring people like that…" his hands were shaking now.

Embry pulled Rachel back a little. He whispered in her ear, "You'll see it again; watch out!"

"Come on Brady," Jake pushed him a little. Wolf Collin whined. "You think you can teach me a lesson, eh Brady? Is that what you want?"

Brady stood his ground. "Just because you are so big, that doesn't mean you can go around picking on the little guys… that's … just not right!" Brady spat the words at Jake. He was almost vibrating now. Jake took a step back and waited.

Brady's hands really started to shake and then he fell to his knees, "What the …" he cried and then he exploded. Bits of his clothing now rained down on everyone.

Wolf Collin gave a happy little yip and wagged his tail.

The other wolf was just frozen where it stood. It looked _extremely_ nervous. It_ had_ just tried to pick a fight with its new pack leader.

Jake turned to Embry, "Well thank goodness, that's done now." He gave the two of them a look, Rachel's hand had slipped into the front waistband of Embry's cut-offs. "I suppose you will be useless to me for the rest of the day," he sighed. "I'll take care of these two; you two piss off and get it out of your system for God's sake."

As they started to walk away Jake called after them, "Oh and get Paul or Sam to come help; maybe Sam, he's good with the newbies."

FF_2154210_ - 17/01/2011 01:17:00 AM


	16. Where am I running to?

**Chapter 16 Where am I running to?**

Disclaimer: _ the characters and all recognisable situations belong to Stephenie Meyer- this is a work of fan fiction, except for the legends and histories of the Quileute that, of course, belong to them. I pay my respects to their gods._

_Thanks to BanSidhe for betaing._

**AN: remember children, safe sex always**

Embry had no idea what to do next. He knew what he desperately wanted to do. But he had no idea if Rachel felt the same way. He didn't quite know how to deal with this. He still felt the brush of her cool hand down the front of his cut-offs; it had tightened places low in his body. But right now he just held her hand and that was good enough for him.

He had imprinted less than half an hour ago. The holy grail of the wolf pack had finally been given to him. He felt all warm and gooey inside. He must have had the dumbest look on his face …ever. A goofy smile.

"Embry."

And the way she said his name; it made him feel all squiffy inside.

"_Embry_," she repeated.

Yeah squiffy.

Fuck, she** was** saying his name.

He turned to look at her. "Sorry Rachel," he apologised. He stood looking down at her. She reached a hand out and pulled his cut-offs towards her. She looked down the gap between his stomach and the waistband. "Damn," she muttered, "I thought I was dreaming."

He just blinked at her.

"Do you always go commando?" she asked.

"Usually… fewer clothes means less time to get ready to phase. We all live in pants… only. Haven't you noticed that?"

"Excellent!" she gave him a killer smile.

He smiled back at her and then she threw herself at him. She slammed his back into a tree and fastened her mouth onto his. His cock jerked in his cut-offs.

"Rachel," he groaned her name.

Then she gave a little jump and wrapped her long legs around his waist. His cock just straight up saluted that. He had instinctively grabbed her ass when she jumped up on him and now his hands pressed into the flesh of her buttocks and she grunted. He spun and slammed her back into the nearest tree trunk and she moaned. He pressed his groin into her and damn near came in his pants at the feel of her pressed right back against him.

"Embry," she moaned. He could not stop himself from rhythmically pressing against her. He was seriously going to lose it right here. Right in his pants like an inexperienced boy.

"Rachel," he tried to get her attention but she was chewing on the side of his neck now. Little nips and bites that made him feel weak at the knees.

A very small part of his brain tried to remind him of something…. Sam… he was supposed to get Sam for Jake.

"Ungh," he said as he desperately tried to get his thought processes into some kind of order. "I want our first time to be done properly," he suggested, "not up against a tree in the forest."

She stopped. Thank the fuck that worked.

"You're right," she agreed. She ground herself against him and he swore.

"Sam," he almost squealed it, as she nipped at his neck again.

"I suppose we should try to keep Jacob happy," she conceded. She jumped down and then she gave the front of his straining cut-offs a squeeze. "I cannot wait to get my hands on this properly," she told him with a leer.

He just blinked. What the hell? He suddenly remembered now that Jake had said Rachel was just like their mother; moody and emotional, he thought he had said. Funny, he did **not**remember him saying self-assured and sex obsessed. He shivered.

"Sam," he reminded himself before he threw her down on the ground and sank his cock down to her spine.

They reached Sam and Emily's place and Embry managed to almost speak a whole sentence by then. Sam just listened with an odd look on his face as Embry explained Collin and Brady had phased and Jake wanted his help down at the beach. It might have lost something in the delivery because Rachel had her whole body pressed up behind him and her hands kept reaching around him and stroking up and down his abs. She was kissing him somewhere in the centre of his back.

All Sam could probably see were her arms.

She pinched his nipple and he squeaked.

Sam grinned. "Imprint, huh?" he asked.

"Rachel, stop it," Embry begged.

"Oh man," exclaimed Sam, "Rachel _Black_? You are so dead, Embry."

"In more ways than one," Embry presciently commented.

Sam just snorted and shook his head. Just then, her hand slipped into the front of his cut-offs; and Embry slapped his on top of it before it got too low into his pants.

"Go!" Sam commanded.

He turned and just scooped her up into his arms and ran. It took him a minute before he realised that he didn't know where he was running. He put her down again.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"Where am I going?" he asked her.

"Oh yeah… Sue Clearwater is living in my old room. I am sleeping on a blow up mattress on the floor in Jake's tiny old room. I threw his bed away, teenage boy cooties. It has to be your place."

"Okay," he agreed and scooped her back up again, changing direction towards his place. Fuck his mother! He thought she was at work. Whatever; he was not putting Rachel down again until he got there.

"Wow, she commented after a few minutes. "You could carry me for miles couldn't you?"

"Yeah," he agreed with a smile, "forever."

She snuggled in and kissed his neck again. He lifted her a little and held her in closer to him; it just felt …right.

"Mum's at work until 6pm, I think. What time is it now?"

"Aah," she looked at her watch, "it's about 11am."

"Eleven till six…," he was thinking aloud, "is that long enough?"

"Long enough?" Rachel repeated. "Fuck, Embry, I think I love you," she commented.

He grinned at her, "…for a quickie…" he added mischievously. "Jake and Leah went for double figures, their first time," he commented.

"Well," she stated, "Can't have my little brother beating me on** that** record, now can we?"

He pounded up the front porch and shifted Rachel so that she sat up a little more; she clung around his neck and he freed one hand to open the door. He might seriously have kicked it open, otherwise.

They got to his bedroom and he finally put her down. A quick glance showed that his room was pretty messy; it was pushing the boundaries of what he would have considered acceptable for any woman and definitely not good enough for his imprint. He itched to pick up a pile of dirty clothes in the corner.

She saw his glance and she put up a hand to stop him.

"Embry," she said. Her voice somehow made his name sound like a caress.

Squiffy inside; oh yeah.

"Rachel," he made her name sound like a prayer.

"Get those pants off… again," she ordered. And he did.

He wanted to touch her, but she stopped him.

"Don't move," she ordered again. "You just stand right there where I can see you," she ordered. She was his imprint and he would do whatever she told him. She made him stand there like a prize stallion and he swelled under her frank regard. His cock twitched.

"Wow," she said. "Hands on head."

He complied. The pose made him feel like a Chippendale with his biceps flexed. He moved his feet a little apart for balance.

She ran a trail of fingers from his elbow, down the inside of his arm, across his chest, across one nipple, around and down to his back as she circled around him. She cupped one of his buttocks and made a pleased, humming noise.

Facing him again, she took a step back and tilted her head a little to the side.

"And you are all mine," she stated with relish.

"Yes," he agreed.

"And you turn into a wolf?"

"Yes."

"Anything else?"

"Other than a wolf? No."

"No, silly. Any other information I should know?"

"I don't know… increased speed, increased strength and stamina." He frowned to think of anything he had missed. "Oh and quick healing and increased body temperature." He couldn't resist a smirk at her, "but I think you already noticed I am very hot."

"Oh yes," she readily agreed, "I noticed… I noticed big time."

She licked her lips.

He just waited to see what she would do next. This was fun.

"What happened to slim little Embry Call?"

He shrugged; it made her blink with the way his muscles moved when he did it. "Got taller, got bigger, and turned into a wolf."

"And the shyness?"

"Went nightclubbing with Quil and Jake," he lifted an eyebrow. "If you've got it…"

"Oh yes," she agreed, "you have most definitely _got__** it**_."

"So you know what to do with…" she seemed lost for words for a second, "…all …this." She gestured at him in all his glory.

He shrugged again. "No complaints," he said. "Oh…" he remembered something extra, "we have super quick recovery time."

"Really?" she licked her lips again. "Define 'super quick'."

"Ten maybe fifteen minutes… tops," he stated.

"Wow."

Her frank admiration was turning him on; he did not care that she was looking at him like a piece of meat. Nobody looked at him like this. Nobody really _saw_ him he supposed. To his mother, he was her little boy and now an endless source of disappointment; the fact that it was underserved was irrelevant.

He was not the biggest, the sexiest, or the anythingiest of the wolf boys… so he no longer even tried to compete. When he went out with Jake and Quil, he was a better physical specimen than most other guys in the club were, but he knew he didn't compete with the other wolves. Quil was so well built and Jake was just…well Jake; nobody competed with Jake in any way. And Seth was so cute.

He was always described as quiet, shy, reserved. Those kinds of words. He was not a doer; he watched. He was not the leader; he was the wingman.

He wanted so badly to be _**seen**__._

And this woman standing in front of him; she saw him. And she was a_ woman._ He knew she was three or four years older than Jake was. And she liked what she saw. It made him even more determined to make her happy. It sounded colourless and prosaic. 'I want to make her happy' but now he comprehended why the other imprinted wolves would do almost anything for their imprints.

He studied her. For the first time he looked at what she was wearing. She had swimmers underneath an over-shirt; it looked too big for her, like a man's old shirt. Another man's shirt? He disliked it already. She must have been going to go for a swim when they had run into each other on the beach. He wondered where her bag and towel were. Later. He would worry about that later.

She walked around him again. He felt his cock pulse with his heartbeat.

"You smell good, is that normal?"

"I don't know… I don't know what I smell like."

She snorted. She was directly in front of him now. She must have been a little over 5"8 maybe 5"9, tall for a girl. But not tall compared to him. He leaned a little towards her and she did towards him; like magnets. He inhaled her scent and decided that she smelt pretty good to him too.

She pressed her face against his chest. Her lips fitted right between his pecs. She licked him; a long flat tongued lick and his eyes squeezed shut as he gasped. He almost grabbed her then, but he still wanted to do what she wanted.

"Can I touch you?" he asked; his voice was shaky with emotion.

"Not yet," she told him.

He groaned.

She gave him that killer smile again.

"Is this a game?" he asked.

"Yes, I like games," she told him.

She stepped back a little. She stared at his groin. He could feel his erection growing as she stared at him. She reached a hand out and held his testes; balanced them in her palm. He jerked at the touch and moaned again. His cock seemed to be pointing at her like a divining rod looking for water.

"Rachel," he begged.

"Embry," she said; she rolled the m over her tongue and rr'd the r. he thought it was fabulous. It sounded like a growl.

"Got any lube?" she asked him.

He thought it might still be on the bedside table from the last session when he had looked after himself. When was that? Yesterday? This morning? He couldn't remember. "Bed side table," he grunted at her.

She found it and came back to him. "You aren't going to ask?"

He tried to look non-committal. "Nope."

"Good boy," she told him as if he had just passed some test he didn't know existed. "For that you get a kiss," and she kissed him. As she drew back from the kiss, he tried to lean forward for more. She placed her hand in the centre of his chest. "Uh uh; stay," she commanded and then she chuckled as if she had made a joke.

She poured some lube into her hand and tossed the bottle onto the bed behind him. She grabbed his now straining cock and slid her hands up and down it; lubricating it well. He gasped.

She interlocked her fingers behind his now stiff cock and she made a slow movement down and then slid her hands back up. On each stroke, she twisted her hands in a spiral movement.

He damn near hit the ceiling as he tried to jump out of his skin. "Fuck!" he shouted. He felt like his cock was in a washing machine. It took all his self-control to not grab her. He could feel his own fingers pressing into the sides of his head.

She kept going; it was officially the best hand job he had ever received. He just started to babble, "Oh… Jesus… Rachel… oh … yes… please… like ...that… please…"

She watched him as he completely lost it and came all over her hands. He had desperately wanted her to slide her lips over him, and take him into her mouth but he wasn't sure he could ask for that yet.

His legs were shaking. She grabbed a t-shirt from the floor and used it to wipe her hands on. "Right," she said all suddenly business-like. "Fifteen minutes huh?" She checked her watch.

Ah… so that was what she wanted? It was a test.

"I'm betting ten," he sounded completely confident.

"Ten? What if I lose?"

"Head job," he told her.

"Okay," she agreed with a mischievous grin. "And if I win?"

He tried to drop his voice the way Quil did when he was chatting up girls, "I'll eat you out," he growled at her. She shivered and he saw her nipples stiffen through her swimsuit. "Its win/win," he assured her wickedly.

"How do you know I give head jobs?" she asked.

He gave her a very slow smile, "If you don't… I think it's time you learnt how."

She beamed at him. He must have cleared all her hurdles. "You can touch me now."

He actually managed to not just grab her; he thought she might expect that. He lowered his arms, closed his eyes and rolled his shoulders, loosening them up and tilting his head from side to side. They felt stiff from being held up near his ears for so long. He ignored her while he did that. She had not moved, he could tell she was waiting for something; waiting for him.

He opened his eyes, focused on her face, reached out and tore that offensive shirt in half.

She let out a squeak of excitement. Her mouth hung open and she looked dazed. He reached for the swimmers.

"No… not the swimmers," she begged.

"So get them off, then," he growled at her.

And she did.

The sight of her naked was too much for him. "What do I get for five minutes?" he asked with a pointed glance towards his groin.

"Fuck's sake… Embry." She looked amazed. "Five minutes?"

"Only for you," he told her sincerely.

She kissed him and dropped to her knees, he pulled her back up again. "Later," he insisted.

He lifted her up to his face and kissed her.

He pushed her back towards the bed.

"Condoms?" he asked her.

"You clean?" she asked.

"Wolves are disease free."

"Wow, that's cool. Me too; I tested myself recently after…" then she shook her head. "I'm clean too."

She looked sad for a second and he desperately wanted that look gone from her face. He put both his hands on either side of her face and gazed tenderly into her eyes. She blinked.

"Don't look at me like that…" she blinked again. Her eyes welled up.

Fuck, she was going to cry. He could not fuck her if she was going to cry.

"Kiss me Embry; kiss me and make me forget… everything," she begged.

"I can do that," he told her earnestly and he kissed her again. She clung to him with a kind of desperation.

"I can't…" she tried to tell him something, but she could not speak and she bit at her lip.

"It's okay,' he assured her, "we'll have lots of time to talk about this later."

"Time… yeah… lot's of time."

He didn't care about the sex; he just wanted that wounded look gone. He picked her up again and carried her to the bed and he laid her down in the middle of the bed. She clutched at his arm. He climbed in next to her and pulled her into his arms. He cradled her against his chest.

He rubbed her back and kissed her forehead as they lay there side by side. He pulled up the sheet to cover them both.

She let out a strangled sob and she started to cry.

"I'm sorry," she sobbed, "I've ruined everything."

"Shush, shush," he comforted her.

"I **so **wanted to fuck you," she wailed.

"You can fuck me later and the next day and the day after that…"

She just looked at him. "Oh my God… that's what it really means isn't it? Wow… I mean I didn't really think about it… but it means … like… forever… right?"

"My one and only," he told her and pressed his lips against her forehead again. She was so smart.

She sat up a little and wiped at her face with her hand, "And you'll never cheat on me… or fuck my roommate … and blame me... because I'm too demanding…"

"Oh Rachel," his heart hurt for her. He propped himself up on elbow.

Tears ran down her face again and he wiped at them with his thumbs and held her face.

"I will_ never_ do that to you and I will _never_ lie to you and I will always try to do what makes you happy," he promised her vehemently.

"I believe you," she sniffed at him.

He pulled her down to his chest and she wriggled down and made herself comfortable. She yawned and closed her eyes. He stroked her hair. She lifted her leg over his thigh and pulled herself in closer to him. She pressed her ear against his chest.

"I can hear your heart beating," she commented dreamily, "its solid and…" she yawned, "…solid… and… it's mine," she finished and promptly fell asleep.

He looked at her in absolute wonder.

Well there was one thing to be said for imprinting on Rachel Black; his life was never going to boring or uneventful **ever** again. They had imprinted an hour ago tops and he had already been on a roller coaster ride of sex, love, and other assorted emotions. He had even almost fought with Jake.

Fuck; what a wild ride.

She was_** so**_ worth it.

FF_2154210_ - 18/01/2011 12:12:00 PM


	17. Waking up

**Chapter 17 Waking up**

Disclaimer: _ the characters and all recognisable situations belong to Stephenie Meyer- this is a work of fan fiction, except for the legends and histories of the Quileute that, of course, belong to them. I pay my respects to their gods._

_Thanks to BanSidhe for betaing._

**AN: remember children, safe sex always**

He couldn't sleep. He just lay there and watched her sleep. Eventually he worked up the courage to touch her and then he couldn't seem to stop. He kept running his hands over her, ever so gently. He touched her face; felt her shoulders; her arms; held her hand and ran her slim fingers through his. He lifted the sheet and ran his hand all the way along her side and down her hip.

Miraculously she barely stirred through this examination. She had the most delightful crease between her eyebrows and she uttered an occasional terribly unladylike but relatively quiet snort.

Every time she opened her lips, he just ached to kiss her again.

Every time she shifted her body in her sleep, he was dying to hold her tighter.

He shuffled his body down so that his face was level with hers and he stared at her intently, willing her to wake up. His legs were uncomfortably tucked up behind him.

Eventually her eyelashes fluttered. They opened. Her very dark eyes focused on him. She blinked. And then she smiled. It was a slow pleased smile and it made his heart swell in his chest.

"Hello," she said in a slow, still sleepy voice.

"Hello," he replied.

"I fell asleep."

"I know." He ran his thumb across her bottom lip. "You were just worn out," he noted.

"It's been a rough month."

"I think I got that."

"Jacob can keep his record."

"They both have quick healing; it gives them an undeniable advantage," Embry pointed out.

She grinned at him. "We can break other records."

"Paul and Bella broke a bed."

"Not bad… but they'll look like amateurs compared to us."

She reached out an arm and played with the hair at the back of his neck.

Then she frowned suddenly. "Where did your legs go?"

"Oh, they are folded up under here somewhere." He held her to him and lifted them both further up the bed, straightening his legs in the process.

"Woo-hoo that's magic. I'm glad… I like your legs."

"I like your legs too."

They lay there and looked at each other.

"Embry?"

"Yes."

"So you're like my wolf dating perfect match; my wolf bachelor, huh? Taha Aki chose you for me, or me for you, or whatever."

"Something like that."

"I just happened to be available."

"No, I think there is more to it than that. You don't have to be available for one."

"But is that how it works?"

"It's kind of complicated. I have to be whatever you need or want me to be."

"How do you mean?"

"I could be your friend, or your brother, your protector," he paused, "or your lover."

"Definitely lover," she said, "I already have a brother."

He almost sighed in relief.

"I'd be some kind of idiot to turn _you_ down," Rachel continued.

Embry thought he might be glowing.

"Unless you just look this fantastic to me because of some kind of wolf mojo… wolf coloured glasses, if you will…"

Embry pouted.

She grinned at him. "Well come on, she said… give me your best bachelor impersonation. I mean, you have blown it already because you don't have a rose."

"Hi," he gushed in a replica of one of those awful television voices, "I'm Embry Call. I'm 6ft 3, weigh over 190 pounds. My hair is black and straight, my eyes are brown. I became a werewolf in early 2006 so my nights are filled with boring patrols alleviated by extreme terror when we find a vampire and kill it. I live with my mother and my hobbies are repairing and riding dirt bikes. At some point I will have to get a real job."

She laughed.

She adopted a higher pitched voice, "OOhhh," she squeaked, "A wolf? What colour wolf are you?" As if she didn't know; she had seen him on the beach earlier.

He continued in his 'bachelor' voice, "I'm grey with darker kind of spots on my back." He changed to his normal voice, "I'm thinner than the other wolves but fast, so I am one of Jacob's wingmen."

"Don't tell me…" she interrupted, "Quil is the other?"

"Yeah."

"Pfft, wolf pack is the same as real life huh? You guys always were a trio."

"So who's second in charge… you?"

"Ha! You're wrong! Used to be Leah … now it's Paul."

"Guess you can't fuck your second, eh?"

He laughed.

"This is what happened to Sam isn't it?" she asked suddenly serious. "He really wasn't available though."

Embry sighed. "Yeah he imprinted on Emily and then to make it worse, Leah became a wolf too."

"Oh my god… Harry's heart attack?"

Embry just nodded. She was pretty smart.

"Poor Leah." She sat up in the bed suddenly. "I am the worst friend in the world! I had no idea she was going through all of this!"

"She couldn't have told you Rachel. I can only tell you because you are an imprint… you are 'in' on the secret now."

"An imprint? Oh God …is there a club?"

Embry snorted. "Kind of…"

"Tell me the women don't sit around waiting for their men to come home like some kind of Victorian happening."

"Aah," he delayed; he did not know how to answer that one.

"Do I have to bake? I suck at baking," she said.

"Maybe you have other talents," he said suggestively. His smile was vulpine.

"Bwahaha," she chortled. "That I do." She climbed onto him as he lay back on the bed. "Wanna see?"

"Please," he begged her.

"You are such a good man, Embry. You have been waiting so patiently."

"Do I get a kiss?" he asked. He had already worked out, it was better to ask with Rachel.

She kissed him. Clearly the teeth and tongue kiss was Rachel's signature kiss. He grabbed her ass and pressed her hard against his now raging erection.

"You left something out," she said between kisses.

"What?"

"In your bachelor list… you left out penis size."

"Jeez … I don't know."

"Sure you do… all guys measure it."

"Let's call it eight inches," he suggested.

"I'd call it a hard eight right now," she giggled.

"Feels more like 10 inches at the moment," he told her.

"Oohh, really? Let me see," as she said that, she raised herself up and unerringly lined him up with her opening. She lowered herself in little pulses onto him as she held onto the headboard with one hand and him with the other. His head threw back and he almost grabbed her to ram her onto him, but he did not want to hurt her.

He groaned her name. He clutched at the pillows and she bounced on him. When she finally had him all the way inside her, she uttered a groan of her own.

"Oh my God, Embry. That feels amazing."

"Ungh," he agreed. He lifted his head and pulled one of her nipples into his mouth. Her hand slipped behind his head to hold him there. She rocked gently on him. Her eyes were closed and her mouth hung open a little. He lifted his hand to palm her other breast. He pushed at her back with his other hand and tried to get her whole breast inside his mouth. He bit at her just the tiniest amount and she jolted on top of him. He thought she might like biting, so he sank his teeth into her breast. She uttered a guttural moan that his inner wolf loved.

He let her breast fall out of his mouth and then he sucked hard on the nipple. Holding it in his teeth and pulling his head back. Stretching it out. She grunted. He nibbled at it and she moaned. Damn, Taha Aki what kind of imprint did you give me?

She leant backwards and he grabbed at her hips, holding her where she was. Her spine arched back and her breasts rose in the air in front of his face.

"Rachel," he moaned.

His hands slipped up her sides to her armpits and he lifted her, and then slammed her down onto him.

"Aah," she cried out.

He did it again. Her breasts bounced in front of his face. He was going to lose it too quickly; he pulled her up towards him and wrapped his arms around her, slowing the pace for a minute or two while he got himself back under control.

She was running her hands through his hair; scraping her nails along his scalp. He kissed her, desperately trying to tell her how much she meant to him. He lifted her and laid her on her side, he was still deep inside her. He took up a slow withdrawal and re-entry.

She lifted her leg and hooked it behind his knee and they rocked gently onto each other.

"Rachel?" he asked, "do I pass the test?"

She looked confused for a second.

"Am I the bachelor you want? Do you choose me?" he sounded just the littlest bit unsure.

"Oh yes," she rocked onto him, "I choose you Embry Call."

He slid his arms up her back and clasped her at the shoulders; holding her firmly against him. He felt her hold him the same way. He kissed the side of her neck. "You are mine," he told her intently. They just breathed together for a minute or two.

Then he rolled her onto her back. He let her go and raised himself on his arms, supporting his weight at his knees as well. He started an undulating motion; his whole body moved in a sinuous way only a shape shifter could have managed. He pulled out of her, rocked up her body in a wave that ended with a thrust back inside.

"Jesus, oh please do that again," she begged. And he did. After that, her speech was a jangled mess of moans, pleas and expletives. She started making panting noises as she got close to coming. He dropped his head and kissed her deeply. She clutched at his back, shuddered and moaned.

"Oh yes… again… yes… Embry… YES," she reached down to his hips to try to hold him into her and when her nails sank into his ass, he lost it. His rhythm faltered and he thrust into her as she pushed against him. They both uttered a groan.

As he came within her, it seemed to set her off as well. With a final thrust, he kissed her again and let his weight drop onto her. She wrapped her arms around him and held him there as aftershocks went through them both.

After a minute or so, he thought to ask, "Am I too heavy?"

"No, you stay right where you are."

"Oh I am not going anywhere," he agreed. They both cried out when he withdrew completely from her; shuffling his body down so that his face was on her chest. He did hold some of his weight on his forearms so that she could breathe.

He closed his eyes and thought that this was his definition of heaven; post coital bliss with his woman. Her hands running through his hair, her legs wrapped around his hips and her foot tucked under his thigh.

At least it was until he heard his mother's car pull up out the front.

FF_2154210_ - 19/01/2011 12:09:00 PM


	18. Mummy's home

**Chapter 18 Mummy's home**

Disclaimer: _ the characters and all recognisable situations belong to Stephenie Meyer- this is a work of fan fiction, except for the legends and histories of the Quileute that, of course, belong to them. I pay my respects to their gods._

_Thanks to BanSidhe for betaing._

"Fuck!" he tried to extract himself from Rachel's grasp; but she was not letting him go.

"What's the matter?" she sounded a little panicked herself. She could not hear the car but his reaction was upsetting her.

"My mother is home from work," he explained nervously.

"So?"

"She'll shout at me…"

"And how is that different from any other kind of day for you?"

"What... how do you know about that?"

"Dad worries about you."

"He does?" Embry was floored. Billy Black cared about him? "Hey," he realised, "this," he gestured at them both, "This means Billy can't be my father."

"For fuck's sake, Embry, you don't really think he would have ignored you for all these years if there was even a chance that you were his son?"

Embry shook his head. "That's exactly what Jake said."

"So your mother is going to flip out because you have a girl in your room, huh?" Rachel had a wicked gleam in her eye.

"Oh please, Rachel, don't." He flung himself out of bed and locked the door. Barricading it with his body; his arms outstretched across the door.

She crawled down the bed towards him; she was a magnificent distraction. She looked wanton and freshly fucked; her lips were swollen and there was a bite mark on her breast. His bite mark, he realised. He could fell his cock twitch with interest.

"Stop it!" he hissed at both her and his uncooperative appendage.

"But Embry," she argued in a low sultry voice, "I owe you a blow job." She eyed his cock. "Well," she sighed happily, "_somebody_ is paying attention."

"Please Rachel," he begged her.

"Should I call him little Embry… not so little I suppose…" she ignored him.

"Rachel?"

Some of his panic must have got to her. She rocked back onto her heels at the edge of the bed and looked at him. "How old are you Embry?" she asked.

"Nineteen."

"Age of consent in Washington State?"

"Sixteen."

"And?"

"It's my _mother_."

"I know that."

"She has rules. This is her house."

"Humph. She clearly still treats you like a ten year old," she grunted.

He said nothing.

Her head tilted. "All right, but only because you have got yourself into a flat panic about this."

He did not lower his arms.

"Am I allowed to have a shower or is it against the rules to have naked women in your bathroom too?"

"You can have a shower," he conceded. "I'll make up some story," he added stupidly.

She looked positively pissed off with that response. "Don't deny me to your mother Embry. I **might** think you are ashamed of me."

He realised his mistake too late on that one. He got a look on his face like a deer caught in the headlights.

She got out of the bed and started looking for something to wear; he had torn her shirt apart after all. She held up a dirty t-shirt from the floor.

"Is it okay to wear this? Or is that against the _rules_?" she was sarcastic.

He had not moved from the door.

She approached him and stood in front of him. She looked utterly furious; fucking him was the last thing on her mind right now. He had screwed this up so badly.

"Get out of the way," she hissed at him.

He hurt inside at how upset she was. And then he realised she wasn't just angry; she was covering her own hurt. There was something in her eyes. What had he done? Some ex had just dumped her badly and then he wants to hide her from his mother. Fuck, he was an idiot!

"You_ are_ my imprint Rachel."

"Fat lot of good that does me when it comes to meeting your family." She almost threw the words at him. "Rachel Black is a fine fuck. She's really good at that, but she's not good enough to meet your mother. Don't rush out of your room and tell your mother how excited you are that you have found… what did you call me? 'Your one and only?' Are you kidding me? Was it all some story to get into my pants?"

He had done this and he had to fix it.

"Please Rachel… try to understand."

"Understand? Oh, I get it all right." She turned away from him and found her swimmers. "Where **is **my bag?" she asked herself. "Fuck, did I leave it on the beach? Oh jeez… so overwhelmed by the sight of _you_… I never fucking learn… I just leap in… I have the worst taste in men…," she muttered.

He tried to reach out to her and she smacked his hands away. "Don't touch me," she hissed at him.

He didn't say anything… he just reached for her again. She punched him in the chest. She kicked, scratched and hit at him and he folded her up against his chest and held her tight.

"I'm sorry Rachel. I am a complete idiot. I am _not_ ashamed of you," he tried desperately to apologise.

He held her as tightly as he could without hurting her; he had hurt her enough today.

"She doesn't know… she doesn't know about the pack… the wolves… the imprinting… exactly like you didn't know… it's a secret… I **can't** tell her… but it doesn't mean I am ashamed of you… it just means that I can't explain why I am so madly, desperately in love with you …in less than a day… **that** I can't explain… because it's …**magic**."

He could smell her tears; he was such a jerk, he had made her cry again.

"I love you Rachel and I want you in my life in whatever role you want to be… I have fucked this up so badly and I am sorry… I will understand if you never want to come near me again… but I need you Rachel… and I want you to be my…" he struggled for a word, "girlfriend just doesn't cover it… but that will do, if that is what you want." He kissed the top of her head. "I just don't have the word for what you are to me. Nothing can explain how you are… the centre of my universe."

She sniffed.

He felt brave enough to let her go a little. Her face was a mess. Some women could manage to look pretty when they cried, but Rachel was not one of them. Her nose was swollen, her eyes were red and her face was all blotchy.

"So if you want to have a shower or wash your face or whatever, I will wait for you and then I will proudly hold your hand and introduce you to my mother as my girlfriend… if you still want to be my girlfriend… and then we will go over to your house and tell your father … and then I will take you out to dinner and tell the whole reservation that you are with me."

There was a pause.

"If that is what you want," he finished.

She finally looked at him. "Now _**that's **_more like it!" she said.

He gave a tentative smile. "So go have your shower … girlfriend."

"Hmmm," she said, "I think I prefer 'lover'."

She kissed him. "Do you think we could find my bag too?"

"Sure, sure."

He unlocked the door and she waltzed out completely naked. Some of her bravado had returned. He bit his own lip to stop himself saying anything to her. Woe betide he start the whole thing again with some stupid comment or a request that she cover up. He was going to spend weeks making this up to her anyway.

He slipped on some cut-offs and found some clean, decent clothes to wear for his meet the parents gig and laid them out on the bed. He maniacally cleaned up his room a little. Throwing dirty clothes in the door of the laundry and remaking his bed so it didn't look quite so bad.

Then he snuck across to the bathroom and tried the door. It was unlocked so he slipped inside and locked it. She was humming to herself in the shower. It was so cute.

"Rachel," he whispered as he opened the shower curtain; he really did not need her to get a fright and scream or something. God knows what would happen if his mother came into the bathroom.

"Hey," she said in that sultry voice. "Are you coming in?"

He leant in and kissed her. "After you milady."

She giggled.

He held up a clean towel for her. She allowed him to wrap her in it and she kissed him again, nibbling at his bottom lip.

"Oh Jesus, don't start …" he begged her. And then quickly before she got upset again, "You want to go down for a quickie in the sand dunes behind the beach?" he tried to make it sound attractive; not like he wanted her out of his house. "Before or after we talk to your dad?"

"After," she decided.

Phew, that worked.

"I'll just have a shower. Can you find some clothes in my room that you can wear?" He slipped his cut-offs down.

"I'll have a look."

"Cool." He kissed her and moved past her into the shower. He turned his back on her to turn the water on; hoping she got the gentle hint that sex in the shower was a 'no' right now.

She got it, but she pinched his ass before she left.

FF_2154210_ - 19/01/2011 10:01:00 PM


	19. My girlfriend in the dunes

**Chapter 19 my girlfriend in the dunes**

Disclaimer: _ the characters and all recognisable situations belong to Stephenie Meyer- this is a work of fan fiction, except for the legends and histories of the Quileute that, of course, belong to them. I pay my respects to their gods._

_Thanks to BanSidhe for betaing._

**AN: I told one reader I have an image of Embry running back and forth between his women like one of those jugglers who tries to keep the plates spinning on sticks. Remember children, safe sex always!**

Rachel had managed to find an old pair of sweats and some pre wolf change t-shirts that fitted her pretty well. It was not until he saw her in them that he realised quite how dramatic his transformation has been. She had put her swimmers back on underneath.

He slid on a pair of jeans and a button up shirt. He even found shoes. They felt weird on his feet; he wore them so rarely these days. He tucked his wallet into his pocket. He was determined to buy her dinner.

He held his arms out for her inspection.

She reached up and undid two of the buttons on his shirt. Then she smiled at him.

He held his hand out and she clasped it in hers. They both just looked at their hands as they were gripped together; it felt oddly familiar. He lifted his hand still gripping hers and kissed her knuckles.

Then they made the terrifying walk down the hall to the kitchen and his mother.

"Mum, you're home early."

"Yes, they are changing my shifts again, but I don't suppose I can complain… I still have a job." She was banging stuff around in the kitchen and hadn't looked at him yet.

Embry thought she might start complaining anyway, so he cut her off. "You remember Rachel Black?"

"Hello," said Rachel sweetly.

Marlena looked up at that and noticed for the first time that Rachel was holding Embry's hand. She also noticed that Rachel was wearing Embry's clothes. She glanced from their clasped hands to Embry's face and then to Rachel's. Her eyes narrowed.

"Does your father know you are here?" Marlena asked.

"We are just about to go see him," Embry said brightly, "And then we are going out for dinner. I just wanted to let you know." Ever the dutiful son.

"Oh," Marlena said. "Dinner?" she repeated.

"Yes we have something to celebrate; don't we Rachel?" and he kissed her hand again. "Rachel is my girlfriend," he stated, complying with his promise to her.

Rachel beamed at him. Her other hand lifted and she caressed his cheek with the back of her hand.

Marlena just grunted at them.

"See you later," said Embry as they headed for the door.

"Goodbye," added Rachel.

Once they got outside, he could breathe a little better.

Rachel was twitching.

"What's the matter?" he asked.

"That woman…" she couldn't speak for a minute.

Embry looked confused.

"Is she always like that?"

"Like what?"

"Rude Embry…. She was flat out rude. She didn't even say 'hello' to _either _of us or ask you anything about why we were going out…ohh… she makes me so mad. All she tried to do was get you in trouble with my father. She didn't even smile at us, or say goodbye either."

Embry had never thought about it, but Rachel was right.

Rachel continued, "I think you have let her behave like that for so long that she doesn't even realise she does it now. Does she always see the negative; the eternal pessimist… glass half empty kind of person?"

"No she's a glass half-full person; to quote Woody Allen 'the glass is half full of poison'. Do you know, I had never thought about it?"

"You watch Woody Allen movies?" she sounded incredulous. "Wait a sec… that quote was from 'Scoop'. I bet you just watched it to see Scarlett Johansson in that red swimsuit."

He grinned. "Busted."

"But back to your mother… she didn't even ask why you were so happy, or ask how long we had been together or any 'normal' questions for a parent. You know, "when did this happen?' tat kind of thing." Rachel squeezed his hand. "Did she even notice you were happy?"

Embry stopped walking and hugged Rachel. "We are not fixing my mother today and we are not letting her ruin this day," he told her vehemently. And then he kissed her. He kissed her at the side of the road, his arms wrapped around her and plastering her against him. He kissed her until someone driving past shouted 'get a room' at them.

Rachel glowed. "Let's go tell Dad," she tugged on his arm, "at least we don't have to keep secrets there."

They half ran to the Black house. They came tumbling in the front door with Rachel shouting for her dad.

"Where's the fire?" he asked and then he caught sight of their clasped hands and the beaming light in his daughter's eyes. "Do I need to ask?"

"Embry imprinted on me," Rachel squealed and hugged her father. She was delighted to be allowed to be happy about it. Embry just blushed.

"Rachel, that is fabulous news," said Billy.

"Sir," Embry nodded at Billy.

"I am sooo happy," she said.

Embry smiled at her. The Rachel merry-go-round was swinging from angry around to happy again. Or was she a roller coaster? Regardless he was well and truly along for the ride.

"I have to get changed." Rachel hugged Billy again, kissed Embry soundly and bounced off to her room.

Billy studied Embry. "Take a seat, son."

Embry thought he ought to explain. "It happened on the beach a few hours ago. Collin and Brady phased; Jake and Sam are looking after them."

"Jake?" asked Billy.

Embry grimaced. "Not happy." He glanced down the corridor. "She's his sister." But then he laughed.

Billy raised an eyebrow.

"She roared at him, I mean he was in wolf form and he was in full on dominant stance and she stood in his face and shouted at him." Embry shook his head. "I don't think I have ever seen Jake put on his ass like that."

Billy smiled. "She's just like her mother."

"That's what Jake told me. 'Moody and emotional' he said."

Billy laughed.

Embry watched him. He had Rachel, but he was just the littlest bit disappointed that Billy Black could not be his father.

"She needed this," said Billy. "Do you know why she came back early?"

Embry shrugged, "I picked up some of it… cheating on her with her room mate? She has been really hurt. More than once I suspect." He glanced towards her location again. "I almost blew it," he confessed, "I tried to hide her from my mother."

Billy winced.

"Yeah," agreed Embry. "I won't be doing that again. I promised her I would tell the whole rez we are together."

Billy looked pleased. "I think that would be the right way to handle it, son."

"Son," repeated Embry. Then he shook his head. "This means you can't be my father; you know."

Billy looked astonished. "Do you really believe I would have left you unclaimed if there was_ any_ chance that you were my son?"

"Jeez, what is it? Do you people have a script or something? That is EXACTLY what Jake and Rachel said."

Billy laughed aloud at that. "Ah Embry," he chuckled, "you have made my day."

* * *

**The dunes**

Rachel had a car. A beat up six-year-old Honda civic she said she had got second hand.

Embry had never thought about her owning her own car; but it was pretty cool. All he had was a banged up dirt bike. He usually sold the good ones for money after he repaired them. It didn't make sense to other people but he couldn't see a problem with it.

They drove down to the beach to see where she had left her bag and her towel. Fuck, the imprint seemed like days ago. Embry could not believe everything that had happened since then. Was it really the same day?

They held hands and strolled down to the beach. Rachel was wearing a white halter neck sundress and she looked amazing. Her skin glowed and her hair shone. She wore no make up and he didn't think she needed it.

Embry could smell Sam near where she had dropped her stuff. He followed the scent trail and found Sam had hung her bag and towel over a branch; just out of sight so no one would pick it up. Typical of Sam to be so thoughtful.

As he handed her bag to her, he just had to touch her face. She looked so beautiful to him. He was constantly trying to touch her. He now had a lot more comprehension of how the other imprinted wolves felt about their imprints.

She leant into his touch and kissed his palm.

"Didn't you promise me a tumble in the dunes?" she asked mischievously.

"Anytime, anywhere," he promised her.

"Ho ho," she crowed, "I'll remember that promise! No wait," she said, "I forgot our bet."

He looked confused.

"Five minutes," she reminded him.

He actually blushed.

She laughed. "Besides," she added, "I don't want to crush my dress."

"We could hang it on the tree," Embry suggested helpfully.

"Sand, Embry," she stated, "Sand is not a girl's friend. There is a reason they make the stuff into sand paper you know. And salt water?" She rolled her eyes. "Fuck I went swimming at the beach after my first time and damn near killed myself. Nobody tells you this stuff."

He grinned at her. He had no problems with the thought that she had been with other guys. He didn't want an inexperienced virgin; Rachel was just too much fun.

"Okay so what are you offering?" he asked.

"I'll take off my dress, hang it in the tree, I will undo your trousers, then I will drop to my knees, and let that amazing package of yours spill out into my waiting hands," she leant in towards him, "and then I will take you in my mouth and blow your brains out."

He just stared at her and then he swallowed past the lump in his throat. "Okay," he agreed; his voice was shaky.

She shook out her towel and laid it at his feet. She stood in front of him. He watched as her hands reached up to untie the halter. She was not wearing a bra underneath. He ached to hold her breasts in his hands. She slid out of the dress and handed it to him. She stood there in a matching white thong. He re-buttoned the halter and hung it on a branch above his head and slightly behind him. It moved gently in the breeze like a flag.

He could not resist anymore and he cupped her breasts in his hands; rubbing his thumbs over the nipples. She leant in to him for a kiss. He groaned as she drew away from him.

"Patience," she muttered at him.

She reached down for his belt buckle; maintaining eye contact with him the whole time. When she licked her lips slowly, he felt himself stiffen. Her hand slid inside his waistband to undo the button fly. He inhaled sharply.

Her hands slid around the back and pushed his jeans down over his hips. She pressed her hands into his ass cheeks then she dropped to her knees in front of him. He was commando as always.

She sighed happily at the sight of him. His pants hung around his thighs. He braced his legs to hold them there. She took him in her hands. He watched her.

There was nothing worse for a guy than a girl looking like she didn't know what she was doing, or that she was bored, or that she wanted it over as quickly as possible. It was still a blowjob, but it was a whole lot less enjoyable if the girl looked like that.

Rachel looked like she was having a religious experience.

She licked her lips and the look on her face alone, as she held him in front of her, was almost enough to make him come on the spot.

He placed his hand on her head and she looked up at him through her long eyelashes. Then she licked him as if he was the best lollipop she had ever seen. She took him in her mouth and hummed; the sound vibrated through him.

His hand slipped to behind her head and held her there; not hard, she could have withdrawn if she wanted to. She worked him in and out her mouth; her other hand held him at the base. The excess saliva from her mouth ran down the sides of him and made the whole experience wetter and better. She kept at him, sucking and blowing at him with relish.

He was so excited he started to thrust gently into her mouth; readying himself to climax. She drew her head back, sucking along his length and then she pinched him hard at the end of his cock; right around under the glans. She held him tightly between her thumb and forefinger.

[AN: I do not know for sure if this actually works – never needed it *snort* - but there is lots of info about it out there]

"Oh Jesus Rachel," he exclaimed.

"You are not coming now Embry, I haven't finished," she scolded him.

"Fuck," he groaned.

"Think of something else for a minute," she told him.

"Please Rachel," he begged her but she would not let go.

He closed his eyes and tried to think of something incredibly boring. Dirt bike maintenance; that should do it. He tried to think about his next job on his bike. Removing the magneto cover and spraying the inside with water dispersant to prevent corrosion. Spray the electrical components too, while he was there. Maybe he should not be thinking about spraying…

After a minute or so, the urge to climax had passed and she released him.

"Good boy," she told him. She patted him on the ass.

He slowly eased his aching cock back into her mouth. In and out for a few more strokes. Her tongue swirled around the head and made him groan. She licked the vein underneath and then flattened her tongue along it. She drew back and then sucked him in; his whole length slid into her mouth until her nose touched his stomach.

"Rachel," he groaned. He had both hands on her head now. He didn't even remember when they had moved there. She blew air out of her nose and he felt it fan the hairs on his stomach.

He was staring down at her now. He could not take his eyes off her. Her lips stretched around him. He could feel himself leaking. There was no way he could stop it now.

She swallowed.

Her eyes were closed as her head drew back. She stuck her tongue in the slit and he jolted. He said something completely incomprehensible; a cross between a groan and a swearword. His hips jerked forward and he fucked her mouth. He thought he had better control, but not in her hands or technically in her mouth.

She let him do it. Her nails pressed into his ass and pulled him into her. All the way in… he moaned and tried to stop; but it was beyond him. His hands pressed too hard on the side of her head and he tried to ease off a little.

She looked up at him with those eyes and he was done. There was heartbeat of silence and then he grunted as he came down her throat. Her tongue was still working at him as she swallowed. A gentler thrust and a second spurt. Another swallow.

"Oh… yes," he managed. A final thrust and another spurt. "Oh… Rachel," he groaned.

His legs were shaking and he felt his cock slide from her mouth. He was still holding her head and he pulled her face against his stomach and held her there in a kind of a hug. He could feel his pulse in his fingertips where they pressed against the side of her head. She was hugging him too; holding him by the ass. Her hand stroked down the back of his thigh and she kissed him softly on the stomach.

They just held that pose for a minute or two.

He honestly didn't know what to say to her. 'Thank you' just didn't cover it.

He reached down and grabbed her by the top of her arms; lifting her up to him. He looked worried as he noticed a tear streak on her cheek. He touched it with his finger and looked questioningly at her.

"Just gagged a little," she explained. "I'm okay."

He kissed her cheek. As if he could make the tear go away.

"Thank you," he told her earnestly. He was all he had; it would have to do.

She grinned at him. "My pleasure," she told him.

He pulled his jeans up and tucked himself away. As he did up his belt he asked, "so the Lodge then?"

"The Lodge?" she repeated. It was the only high class restaurant Forks had, the one where everyone went for anniversaries, birthdays and graduations.

She had found a bottle of water in her bag and she took a swig. "The Lodge," she repeated. "You are a man of your word aren't you Embry Call?"

"That I am."

FF_2154210_ - 21/01/2011 12:20:00 PM


	20. The lodge

**Chapter 20 The lodge**

Disclaimer: _ the characters and all recognisable situations belong to Stephenie Meyer- this is a work of fan fiction, except for the legends and histories of the Quileute that, of course, belong to them. I pay my respects to their gods._

_Thanks to BanSidhe for betaing._

"This is too expensive," she hissed at him over the top of her menu.

He gave her a raffish look. "You saying you aren't worth it, Rachel?"

"Well… no…" she looked flummoxed. "Why can't we go to an all-you-can-eat buffet or something? You'd prefer that much more, I am sure," she suggested, "at least you could actually get enough to eat."

"Can't," he said simply. "Banned."

"What?"

"The pack… we're banned from every buffet in town and most in Port Angeles as well."

"Banned?" she blinked.

"Yeah," he continued, "I suspect they have photos of us warning the staff, not to let us in. They seem to recognise us on sight. It's just not worth driving any further afield, doesn't become cost effective."

"Banned," she repeated.

"I think the real clincher was in Port Angeles one day, when Paul tried to argue that it was an all-you-can-eat buffet and that they should** not** get upset when he ate it all…"

"Paul ate a whole buffet?" she was incredulous.

"Jake was with him… and Bella … although I suppose she doesn't count. Don't think _she_ ate much." He frowned. He wondered what where they all doing in Port Angeles that day? He shook his head.

[AN: they were bed shopping; you remember, readers 'What Was He Thinking?']

He laughed. "I hear the pizza delivery guy is thinking of getting a bigger vehicle; with the size of the La Push pizza deliveries."

He looked at Rachel. She still looked concerned. He put his menu down. He reached across the table for her hand. "I can afford it and you are worth it," he reassured her.

He looked around to make sure no one could over hear him. "The tribal council decided a while ago to pay us a stipend; an allowance, for being part of the pack. I have never spent a cent of it, because I could not explain to my mother where I got the money from, without telling her… ," he paused, "you know…"

"Oh, I suppose that makes sense," she agreed.

"Besides," he added, "it makes more sense to me to spend my wolf money on the woman the wolf gods gave me. Don't you agree?"

She smiled at him. "All right, but no dessert or coffee," she suggested. "That is a ridiculous price for a cup of coffee," she huffed.

He blinked at her.

"Don't look at me like that," she said. "I'd rather go home and make a cup of coffee than pay that much."

He was staring at her.

She continued, "I'll give you an example: let's say you are one of those people who like to have a coffee and a muffin every day for morning tea? You spend … what $7 every day… that's $35 a week assuming you only do it Monday to Friday… and that's a total of $1,820 a year. And add in a second coffee or a magazine or a newspaper and it gets really ridiculous."

"You're thrifty," he said with a note of wonder in his voice.

"Damn right I am," she said. "Can't afford to be anything else."

He studied her outfit. "The dress?" he asked.

"Vintage; it's actually an old dress of mum's."

He leant sideways to look at her feet. "The shoes?" he asked.

"I've had them for five years. They used to be white but they were too stained, so I recoloured them black. Cost me $3.50 and they are really comfortable."

"Bag?"

"Made it myself."

"And you look like a million dollars," he said sincerely.

"Hey," she argued, "it's not what you wear; it's how you wear it."

"What did you study at Uni?"

"Business and marketing," she said.

Embry had a really good idea.

"If we start a garage could you help us?"

"Who is us?"

"Me, Jake and Quil."

"How are you going to do that?"

"Honestly, I don't know… we'd need a lot of start up capital. But Jake is an engine whisperer and he has a lot of clients now. They will follow him anywhere and pay whatever he asks. We just need a proper garage."

The waiter came to get their orders. They both ordered burgers and just water to drink. Rachel would not even let him order a beer at these prices.

Rachel shifted to sit next to Embry. She dragged a notepad from her bag and she started into a mini lecture about running a business. "Right," she said, "first off you need your formation expenses: buying a business or the stuff you need to run one. Lifts and tools for a garage, I suppose. Renting or buying an existing business unless you start from scratch, but then you would have to purchase land. Then you need to pay some professional fees: lawyers, accountants that sort of thing. Then you need enough money to cover purchasing goods, parts, and marketing. You'll have some technology start up costs: computers, phones etc. Administration costs; letterhead, envelopes, stamps, insurance, chairs and tables, a coffee machine and stuff like that. One time set up fees: machine installation costs and licence fees. Monthly expenses like electricity and phone bills. And lastly salaries. You can't run a proper business if you don't pay yourself."

Embry felt overwhelmed.

"It was a dream," he muttered. He wasn't sure how the heck it could happen now.

"Dreams are good," Rachel justified. "What else are you guys going to do?"

"Well that is exactly the problem. Can't leave La Push," Embry pointed out. "Especially Jake."

"Oh yeah," she agreed, "I hadn't thought about that."

Their meals arrived and they barely noticed as they continued to discuss the business plan.

"Ideally you need enough money to cover you for six months. Just in case you don't have an income coming in; sometimes people don't pay their bills promptly."

Embry laughed. "Oh I don't think we would have any debt collection problems. Imagine… we could just sic Quil onto them." He laughed.

"So between the three of you… how much capital do you have?" Rachel ate some fries.

"I don't know Rachel. It's just a plan for the three of us to have something to work towards, something that we could do, that we are good at; that would allow us to have weird working hours and we could be self-employed… you know? No awkward questions."

"Wow," she said suddenly, "you could be 'ABC garage'. Ateara, Black and Call. It's too cute… oh, imagine the letterhead and the business cards…" and she was off. There was no stopping her now.

Her face was filled with enthusiasm; she took an occasional bite of her meal as she was sketching away on the pad, waving her arms around theatrically as she told him all her ideas. He watched her as he ate his meal and fell even more in love with her. He played with her hair, tucking it behind her ears.

She kept leaning closer to him and then she crossed her legs and hooked one of her feet under his calf. She did not even notice she had done it. His arm fell along the back of the corner booth they were sitting in and he leaned in and put his face in her hair. She was still chattering away about something when she froze. He had licked up the outside of her ear.

"Rachel," he said; his voice was low and throaty. "We need to go home." He licked her ear again. "Now," he added. She shivered.

"Okay," she agreed. "I'm not really hungry anyway."

He waved at the waiter, but he must have been watching them and he brought the bill immediately. Maybe that was what you paid for in expensive restaurants; better service. Embry paid and ate the remains of Rachel's burger in three bites.

"You have a great evening, sir," the waiter said with a wicked gleam in his eye.

"This has been the best day of my life so far, and I think everything is just going to get better from here," Embry assured him.

Rachel looked so pleased when he said that.

They held hands as they walked to her car.

"Your place, I assume?" she asked.

"I have a bed," he pointed out reasonably, "You have a blow up mattress."

"True," she agreed.

He stopped her before they got to the car and he kissed her; gently and compassionately. He gazed into her eyes. "I just want to fall asleep with you in my arms and wake up in the morning the same way," he told her breathlessly.

"Oh that is so _sweet_," she said. "I was just planning to fuck your brains out," she told him.

He blinked. "No reason why we can't do both," he managed to say.

"What about your mother?"

"Fuck her," said Embry.

"Ewww, I'd rather not."

Embry snorted. "If she wants me to stay at home, she can put up with the noise."

"That's my boy," she patted his face. "Let's go home and fuck."

FF_2154210_ - 22/01/2011 12:52:00 PM


	21. Time and truth

**Chapter 21 time and truth**

Disclaimer: _ the characters and all recognisable situations belong to Stephenie Meyer- this is a work of fan fiction, except for the legends and histories of the Quileute that, of course, belong to them. I pay my respects to their gods._

_Thanks to BanSidhe for betaing._

Time passes…

Marlena did not like Rachel. She did not like the way that Rachel could get Embry to do things she didn't approve of. First and foremost, was the obvious premarital sex they were indulging in; loudly, in _her_ house. She had known that Embry had been out to nightclubs with the other boys, but she had somehow completely missed the idea that he might have been having sex. She always did have avoidance issues.

Rachel was the daughter of the chief and it did tend to give her some authority. Or at least it meant that Marlena had no one to complain to. Billy Black was not upset about the relationship; in fact, he seemed to heartily approve of it. Marlena was perplexed as to why he was behaving this way. He had let his son, who was the same age as Embry move into the Clearwater house with Leah and Seth. No sign of a wedding ring there either. And the other girl had married a surfer. A surfer… a professional surfer was just another term for someone who didn't work in Marlena's book.

And Sue Clearwater was just as bad. Clearly, the woman had lost her head when she had been accepted onto the tribal council. Maybe it was the shocking death of her husband, but she actually seemed to condone her daughter living with a young man while they were unmarried. It should have been a scandal. Marlena did not understand why more people on the reservation were not upset about it.

And Sue herself had moved in with Billy Black to_ nurse_ him. Sure. He seemed no more ill than he had been when he was living alone with his son. Surely, that boy could not have nursed him properly before, he was a child. It sounded like a feeble excuse to Marlena. Plus, Sue was seeing that Charlie Swan at the same time. It was scandalous.

And Seth was only seventeen and living with Jake and Leah. Who was making sure he did his homework and ate properly? She really did not think Leah was the best homemaker. She was not capable of looking after those two boys. And she was working as a policewoman! It was a dangerous job for a woman. How could her mother have let her do such a thing?

And the Ateara's were clearly insane as well. How on earth Rowana put up with that strange girlfriend of Quil's she just did not know. The girl was clearly on drugs or something. She was sure she had seen her burying a shoe in their yard yesterday. He had come back from that trip to Neah Bay with a girl who had just moved right into the family home. She had never seen her around the area before and her colouring was strange. Her hair was brown not black, with that weird light streak she must have bleached into it. It was a wonder she didn't have body piercings and one of those rings through her face. Maybe she did. She was sure the girl was not Makah. He must have picked her up in Clallam Bay, but to bring her home to his family was very odd indeed. Yet another couple living together without being married.

And no one on the reservation seemed upset about that either.

This next generation were behaving like animals.

Marlena did a lot of head shaking and tut-tutting over Billy, Rowana and Sue and their mysterious behaviour. It never occurred to her that her decision to keep the identity of Embry's father a secret from him and hide him from her family, caused the exact same reaction in others towards her.

Poor Embry, having kept his wolf nature secret from his mother, now couldn't explain about imprinting either. He could see that his mother did not understand why Rachel was so essential to him in what, for a normal person, would have been a ridiculously short amount of time to be dating. Let alone seriously dating. They acted and spoke as if they were in it for the long haul. There just wasn't another option for either of them.

And Marlena just did not understand.

* * *

**Truths**

"So this big wolf secret is a secret right?" Rachel asked Embry. She was sitting under his arm with her back against his side. They were watching some crappy movie neither could be bothered to turn off. They were comfortable together.

"Yep, only the wolves, the tribal members, some parents and the imprints know." His arm passed over her shoulder, straight down her chest and his hand rested at her hip. His fingertips brushed the skin of her hip under her shirt with ceaseless small motions.

"You said 'some'. Why wouldn't you tell your parents?"

"Well it is a huge secret. We can't have the whole tribe knowing about it… it could be disastrous."

"And Collin phased right there on the beach in front of me."

"Yeah; Jake is still shitty with me for that. I was supposed to be watching them to make sure they didn't blow it and hurt themselves, or somebody else."

"You couldn't have stopped it. Besides, he should be shitty with_ me_… I distracted you." She shuffled around to look at his face.

He beamed at her. "You sure did. Have I told you lately just how glad I was that you distracted me?"

"Wait a second… you still haven't told your Mum have you?"

"No," he grudgingly admitted.

"Why not?"

"What did I just say? It's a secret." He was grumpy. He did not want to discuss this with her.

"Don't be a smart ass, why not?"

He sighed. "She has such a huge chip on her shoulder about me being a fatherless child… imagine if she finds out she cursed me with** this **as well."

"Yeah she would think like that, but it is odd that you think of it as a curse."

"No, Jake does too sometimes."

"Really?"

"Well think about it. We can't leave La Push; we are the 'protectors'. So no uni or college no matter how smart we are. No other life choices other than this one, which is forced upon us by the presence of vampires."

"That's what triggers it?"

"No vamps; no wolves. There hasn't been a wolf pack since our grandfather's time. Old Quil remembered, thank the Gods."

"What started this round?"

"The Cullens, but then they started the last round too."

"Oh…," she thought about it, "and Bella brought them here?"

"No, she didn't bring them here, but she certainly got caught up in their lives. They used to live here. That was when the original treaty was made with them. Exactly the same vampires. And they came back for some reason. Their presence is enough to trigger the change, if they are here for any length of time. And once it starts…"

"Wow, I wonder how many past vampire attacks were put down to animals? Before we knew…"

"The Cullens didn't attack people but Jake reckons Billy was damn near hysterical when Bella started dating Edward Cullen. Without actually telling Jake that he was a vampire; Bella knew, of course. He did everything he could think of without actually telling _her_ the truth about the wolves, to warn her off them. Paid Jake to go to her prom to talk to her and tell her we'd be watching them."

"I bet that didn't work. She's fairly strong minded when she wants to be."

"Oh yeah. Besides, Jake was pleased to dance with Bella at the prom. It was win/win for him. And as a bonus, he pissed Edward off."

Rachel laughed. "That I can imagine, he can be truly irritating."

"Spoken like a true big sister," chided Embry.

"What about Sam? He's semi retired; he's escaped your curse."

"Jake and the tribal council granted him that. He turned first and couldn't turn back. Spent two weeks as a wolf in the forest. Leah nearly went mad looking for him."

"Yeah, she used to phone me and vent about how worried she was about him."

"He was never meant to be the Alpha and he did a great job, but it cost him Leah and half of Emily's' face. They let him retire. Plus two alphas is bad news. We are all hoping that Collin and Brady will be the last to phase. Plus they are so young too; barely fifteen. It's not fair to have it happen that young."

There was silence for a minute. "Sometimes imprinting is bad news. Bella imprinting on Paul almost killed Jake," Embry said. "But it saved Paul's life. He was on a pretty self destructive path before Bella straightened him out."

"Jacob loved Bella from the time he was little."

"Still does. Sam still loves Leah too."

"So it doesn't erase the old feelings; it just kind of overwrites them?"

"Something like that."

"But Leah is perfect for Jacob and they are so good together."

Another silence.

"Humph," she said, "so you don't like imprinting huh?"

"Can't complain, it gave me you," he pointed out.

"No, it gave ME you. Right when I needed you the most. Weird huh?"

"Perfect," he told her breathlessly.

She glowed.

"Besides, I hit the imprinting jackpot; you are like the La Push Kennedys."

"What the…? How do you get that?"

"Royalty baby; you are the daughter of the chief."

She giggled.

"Just call me Arnold Schwarzenegger," he murmured as he started to kiss her neck.

"So does that means you'll be back?"

FF_2154210_ - 23/01/2011 12:02:00 PM


	22. Scratches and digging holes

**Chapter 22 Scratches and digging holes**

Disclaimer: _ the characters and all recognisable situations belong to Stephenie Meyer- this is a work of fan fiction, except for the legends and histories of the Quileute that, of course, belong to them. I pay my respects to their gods._

_Thanks to BanSidhe for betaing._

**AN: remember children, safe sex always**

"Ow," said Embry. Rachel was lying on the top of his body with her face on his chest. Her pec pillow she called it. She was absently scratching her nails down his hairless chest.

"Look at that! I scratch you and you heal almost instantly. It's freaky!"

"Still hurts," he muttered.

"Oh my poor little super strong wolfy boy," she crooned at him. She sat up quickly and gave him a look that he was starting to recognise.

"What?" he asked with trepidation.

"This could be fun," she said with relish.

He blinked. "Fun?" he clarified.

"Oh yeah. Do you trust me?"

"No."

She hit him, hard.

He grabbed her hands and held them in front of his chest. "Rachel," he chastised her.

She leant in towards him, "What are you going to do about it?" she taunted him.

"What am I… ?" He still held her hands. He gave her a look; he thought he knew what she wanted.

Another game. Rachel loved games.

"I will make you sorry…" his head tilted, "I may have to … punish you."

Her breath caught; oh yeah, that was what she wanted.

"Punish me?" she asked breathlessly. He could hear her heart rate increase.

He moved her wrists over and held them easily in one hand. His hands were so big. She tried to struggle, surprisingly strongly, but he had her measure. She could have kicked him but she didn't use her legs. He pulled the arm holding her wrists up and her body lay flat against his, his other hand slid down her body to her ass. He stroked it and she squirmed. Hmm. Not what she wanted.

He lifted his hand and slapped her on the ass.

She made a noise that was a combination of shock, delight and something else. Her body jolted against his and that went straight to his cock. He grunted.

"Again," she ordered.

His wolf brain heard Jake's alpha tone when she spoke like that, and he had already slapped her, before his human brain processed that it was not Jake giving him an order.

Fuck, that was dangerous. Especially if she worked it out. She was pretty damn smart; he didn't think it would take her long.

He flipped her body over and used his knee to force her legs apart. She was still half fighting him.

"Do you trust me?" he asked her.

"Always."

Interesting that her response was the opposite of his. He supposed that was his place in this relationship.

"Don't fight me," he begged her.

"Okay," she agreed.

He let her hands go gingerly. She didn't move.

She was lying flat on her back now. He put one hand around her throat and she moaned. He lifted himself straight on that arm in a kind of one-armed push up. He was very careful not to restrict her breathing; that shit was just dangerous. But she was held firmly in place and she couldn't move.

Not that she wanted to. Her mouth hung open and she was starting to pant. Her excitement was contagious and he felt himself get as stiff as a board.

He reached down, positioned his cock, and thrust into her in one hard penetration. He raised himself to his knees; his free arm under her and he lifted her with him. She rested on her shoulder blades now with her back lifted off the bed. His other arm reached back behind him.

"Foot," he ordered her as he patted that leg. She dutifully lifted her leg, with a bent knee and he grabbed her around the ankle. He held her foot tight against his ass. It turned her body just a little. She was now effectively pinned under him. Pinned by his hand and his cock. And she knew it. She moaned.

His hand slipped round to the back of her neck and held her by the hair. When he lifted his hips, he thrust into her.

[AN: Kama Sutra galloping horse – 'cause I know you all think I make these positions up]

The only thing she could reach was to rake her hands down his hip. His straightened arm held the rest of his body away from her. He lifted himself and increased to a pounding pace. She just wailed under him. She was completely in his control; she could not move; not to lift herself or to pull away.

She was his; it made him harder. She couldn't move and when she came, she came hard. She couldn't kiss him, or reach him; she couldn't even move her head, so she lost it completely and she screamed her frustration and her excitement. Her nails sank into his hip and he grunted and kept going with his pounding pace. Her scream rose in its intensity.

He slammed himself into her. His arm was trembling and he grunted with each thrust. She came again and she let out another high-pitched cry before, with a final thrust, he lifted her further off the bed and exploded within her. This time she screamed his name.

With a shudder, he withdrew from her, released her foot and collapsed on the bed next to her. He was still holding her at the neck and he hauled her over towards him and kissed her.

As she drew back, she just looked at him. She was still breathing hard. "That was… fucking amazing," she told him intently.

"Made you scream," he smirked at her.

"And I wanted to do it to you," she sounded oddly disappointed.

"You did hurt me," he held his hip up for her to see her scratches, "see?"

"Aww baby, let me kiss it better," she murmured.

He sucked in a breath, "Oh no, don't do that otherwise we will be having another round."

"I'm up for it, if you are," she told him.

* * *

**Embry's worries**

"Jake can I talk to you?"

"Sure Embry, What about?" Jake and Embry were working together on a vehicle in the Black garage.

"Quil."

"What the hell happened with you two? I have never seen you fight like that… not ever, and it's still strained."

"It's my fault. I mean I am happy for him imprinting and everything but I am just worried and I said something to him that I probably shouldn't have… I tried to apologise but he is just really shitty with me now."

"Look, Embry I value your insights. You often see things other people don't." He chuckled. "All that watching…"

"Pititchu is perfect for him and I know they are really happy together but I just don't know…"

"Spit it out Embry… it's driving you crazy," Jake advised.

"Jake I just don't think she is… well… human."

Jake just stared at him. He was speechless.

Embry blustered as he tried to explain what was worrying him, "I mean you see something that looks human; you want to believe it _**is**_ human right?… I just can't put my finger on it… but there is a whole lotta stuff… it just doesn't add up."

"Embry," Jake's tone was warning now.

"I think she is a wolf," he spat out.

"Well of course she is a wolf."

"No... I mean she is a shifter … but a shifter wolf… not a shifter human."

"What the fuck?"

"Think about it Jake. I think she is a wolf who shifts into a human occasionally not the other way around."

"Jesus Embry, are you sure?"

"Well no… that's why I wanted to talk to you."

There was silence.

"Her speech is weird," noted Jake.

"When she does speak," added Embry, "she barely says a whole sentence. Usually just a word or two."

"And that hasn't changed, the longer she is human," noted Jake.

"Her hair colouring matches her wolf; even the shock of lighter hair."

"None of us have that except Sam. I don't have red hair," said Jake.

"She has wolf eyes all the time. We have human eyes even when we are a wolf, but her eyes are all wolf, all the time. Quil and I thought she had just been shifted for too long, you remember like Sam was for two weeks, but there's something else."

"What else?"

"She turns around before she sits."

Jake laughed.

"I'm serious Jake. You watch her. I mean we spend a lot of time as wolves, but do you ever do that?"

There was another pause. Jake was just staring at him as he tried to process what Embry was saying.

"She's just too _good _at being a wolf," Embry blustered. "She prefers to be one. If it's hot, she digs up the dirt a little before she lies down. It's pure wolf behaviour, Jake."

"To get at the cooler ground… yeah… I've seen them do that."

"What about how she thinks? I mean you as pack leader can see inside her head, does she think like the others? I am not usually phased when she is."

Jake thought about it. "No, you are right. Her head is uncomplicated really. Mostly she thinks about Quil, food, how happy she is in a new pack… a new _pack_… not a new family…" He gave Embry a very calculating look, "and you tried to tell Quil this; _this_ is what caused the fight?"

Embry sighed, "yeah, he accused me of being jealous, because I hadn't imprinted and he was half right, I'll admit that… but I just worry… and I suppose I didn't exactly voice my concerns in a nice way and every time I try to bring it up he gets shitty again."

Embry just fidgeted. "And now I've imprinted I understand how he feels about her. But I still think I am right. The only thing she does that is not wolf-like, is she likes the water. She swims and most wolves avoid it if they can."

"It won't change anything," Jake stated. "I've accepted her into our pack. She is Quil's imprint. She's with us for life."

"I know, but we need to know, Jake."

* * *

Jake asked to speak to Pititchu and not unexpectedly, Quil came along too. They were in the living room of the Clearwater house.

"Jacob," she nodded at him in formal greeting. She did spend a lot more time human these days but Embry still had that odd feeling about her.

Jake inhaled and unwittingly puffed himself up. He must have looked even more formidable to the smaller female.

She cowered. Quil started to look concerned.

"Tell me about your family; your pack," Jake's tone would brook no interference.

"Dead," she stated simply.

"All of them?" Quil asked.

She just nodded.

"Pititchu…" Jake stopped as if he was marshalling his thoughts. "You are part of my pack and you always will be." He glanced at Quil. "I have accepted you. You are Quil's mate. But you must tell me the truth." He looked severe and serious. He looked eerily like his father.

"We have some concerns," said Jake.

Quil's eyes narrowed to laser points at Embry.

"I think you are a shifter wolf… not a shifter human," Embry tried to explain.

"What the fuck…" Quil sounded flabbergasted. "_Embry_… why would you say that?"

"Wolf," the girl repeated and then she nodded.

Quil looked shocked.

"This is _your _doing," Quil snapped at Embry.

"Quil, shut up!" Jake ordered using his Alpha command voice.

He rarely used the Alpha timbre on them and Quil's mouth snapped shut. His eyes still glared at Embry.

"Yes, wolf," she said it very simply. Then she took a deep breath. She lowered her face and reached a trembling hand out to Quil. He just stared at her and for once, made no move to touch her. She uttered a tiny cry, as if her heart had just broken. Quil tried, but he could not restrain himself; he grabbed her and hugged her hard against him.

"Speak," said Jake softly, lifting his command against Quil.

"It doesn't make any difference to me," Quil tried to reassure her. "Why didn't you tell us? Why didn't you say anything?" but his instinctive rejection of her had hurt her.

"Quil," her voice quavered. She managed to get a dozen things into that one word. She managed to get across that she was so frightened of his reaction to this; that she loved him and that she did not want to lose him.

He clutched her to him, kissing her face in little frantic kisses. "Oh Baby," he comforted her.

The other boys were speechless. It was one thing to suspect something, but quite another to have it confirmed.

Embry recovered first. "Your pack?" he asked.

She unwound herself from Quil, stood and hitched her shorts up the back of her leg, exposing a round scar they had all seen but not quite processed. "Shot," she stated. Quil buried his face into her stomach and she wrapped her arms around his big shoulders.

"They got shot?" Jake asked her. "All of them?"

"Hunters," she said.

Quil put it together first. "You phased to human and they didn't find you." He had made some intuitive leap.

She nodded again. "Pititchu hid; hid wolf too."

That was almost the biggest sentence they had ever heard her say. But, they knew what she meant; it made perfect sense.

There was complete silence for a minute or two and then Quil chuckled. Everyone looked at him.

"Hey," he said, "I imprinted on a bitch... literally."

[AN: Thanks Feebes86 for this line]

* * *

Old Quil was particularly sagacious about finding out that his grand daughter-in-law was a real wolf. "She asked the gods for help and they saved her," he said. "She must be very special indeed. It is an honour to have her in our family."

Quil just puffed up with pride at that statement.

The resident medic, Charles Eastman was beside himself when he found out. He was desperate to do some study on her. He advised Quil, that she would probably have a heat period just like Leah. Quil's dreams had come true with that revelation.

Embry just prayed that they weren't in heat in the same week. He really wasn't sure the pack could handle that. Nor that Jake and Quil could handle being in each other's head that week. Nor Leah in Pititchu's for that matter.

Charles could not wait for her to get pregnant to see how long her gestation period was; he was already trying to think about ways to stop her from phasing if she became pregnant. The one thing he didn't tell Quil was his concerns about her life expectancy. He sincerely hoped that the wolf gods in saving her, had granted her a more human life span. Wolves lived about ten years in the wild and up to twenty in captivity.

FF_2154210_ - 24/01/2011 04:28:00 AM


	23. Girls, women and babies

**Chapter 23 Girls, women and babies**

Disclaimer: _ the characters and all recognisable situations belong to Stephenie Meyer- this is a work of fan fiction, except for the legends and histories of the Quileute that, of course, belong to them. I pay my respects to their gods._

_Thanks to BanSidhe for betaing._

**AN: the idea for Pititchu came from one line in one of the Dresden Files – she was supposed to be Embry's imprint, but she just fitted so much better with Quil – but the pack (and the author) will have to sort out a lot of issues with her changed nature**

"You know about the pack mind, right?" Leah asked Rachel.

"The what?" said Rachel.

"Shit… he didn't tell you?"

"Tell me what?"

"Wimp," Leah swore. "Because we can't talk when we are phased, we have this kind of mind link. We get like… a picture of what we are thinking about."

"Whoa, that's neat."

"Are you kidding me? You want to see what a bunch of teenage boys think about? All the time…I mean ALL the time…" she shuddered. "Ugh, makes me feel dirty… half the time I_ need_ a shower after patrol… especially Paul… damn he used to get up to some weird shit."

"Quil?"

"That boy is just sick…"

Rachel suddenly understood the implications. "So that means if Embry thinks about me…"

Leah just nodded.

"Whoa," she looked stunned for a second and then she grinned evilly. "Oh… poor Jake."

"Exactly!" agreed Leah. "He is having trouble coping."

"What about Seth?"

Leah looked flummoxed. "What about him?"

"You are_ his_ sister," Rachel pointed out.

Leah guffawed. "He **lives** with us! The poor boy gets it every night in full stereo surround sound. Jake doesn't care about that!"

"Poor Seth."

"Jake only worries about you. It's too funny," Leah commented, "anytime poor old Embry has some memory of you two going at it, Jake freaks out, on the basis that you are his sister and he can't deal with the thought of you having sex," she giggled, "let alone freaky sex."

"Doesn't worry us... does it?" Rachel chortled evilly. "I don't suppose you are really supposed to see your own sister's O face, now are you?"

"Girl, you make that boy do some freaky stuff."

"Aww come on, he loves it… gets him all excited."

"I suppose but he'd jump off a cliff if you asked him to," muttered Leah.

"Really?"

"Yeah it's this imprint shit. They have to be whatever the heck their imprint wants them to be, so Sam went all soft and compliant, Paul gave up other women, and Embry becomes your personal sex slave."

"Oh," said Rachel, as if she hadn't quite thought of it like that before. "But it makes me happy," she added in a smaller voice.

"Yeah, and he knows that… so…" Leah shrugged.

"What about you and Jake? I hear all the talk about you guys doing it wolf style?"

Leah actually blushed. "Man, that was... there are **no** words… Jake alpha ordered me not to think about it phased… but damn…"

"So if that was your fertile week, how come you are not spawning or throwing a litter or whatever the fuck wolves do?"

"Omigod no, I am soo not ready for that! You know we live an extra long time too. So Jake and I have plenty of time together before I am even thinking about pups. Plus I just got settled into my job and I am not taking fucking maternity leave or what the fuckever." Leah grinned. "I made Charles Eastman dose me up on that shot in the arm contraceptive. Double dose just in case."

"Does Jake know?"

"Yeah I told him I was going to do it. He just has to deal with it. That one was NOT a mutual decision. He has all the wolf leadership biology crap going on in his head too. His inner wolf wants pups. I told him we would have pups; just not right now… wolf Jake wasn't happy but human Jake was okay with it… sometimes its like dating two guys. And as a real bonus, I am not fertile at any other time of the year, so no worries about an unexpected happy event. Don't even have to miss a few days for my period," she smirked. "And no condoms," she said with relish.

"Awww, but your pups would be so cute…," said Rachel, "and Emily is almost ready to pop, if she hasn't already done so."

"Fuck's sake Rachel, we are barely into our early twenties, give us all time. Real people don't have pups now… what … are you going all gooey on me?" demanded Leah.

"No… but Embry is just so… gorgeous. He'd have beautiful babies."

Leah rolled her eyes. "Jesus, Billy would be beside himself, if you had pups."

"And if Bella and Paul calve, he and Charlie would be sitting around with them on their laps like the story book grandpas!"

They both cackled at the image.

"Don't forget Charlie would be step grandad to your kids too," pointed out Rachel, "if he and Sue get married."

"Oh yeah, wow."

"He'd love it, if all Billy's grandkids were his too. They have that endless competition going on all the time, and Charlie would see that as him winning that round."

"Poor kids… imagine the crap those two would tell them." Leah laughed.

* * *

**Women talk**

Rachel, Leah, Rowana Ateara and Sue Clearwater got together at the Black house. It was an affirmative action meeting.

Rachel started. "Embry won't tell his mother he is a wolf."

"The pack actually lobbied Sam to let her in on the secret years ago and he wouldn't allow it," Leah said.

"Sam?" Sue sounded doubtful about that.

"No,_ Embry_."

"What? Oh honestly, that boy makes me so mad sometimes…" Rachel grizzled.

Rowana spoke up, "He's just worried about his mother."

"His mother does not deserve his concern," grunted Rachel.

"I was pleased to know what you are," Sue commented. "I am proud of my children for what they do." Leah smiled at her. "Besides it was a bit hard to hide the cartoon wolf-shaped hole in the wall of Seth's bedroom," Sue added.

Leah snorted. "Why he couldn't go out the window like a normal person…" she rolled her eyes. A small part of her marvelled at the fact that she could talk about the events of that fateful day, without feeling the searing pain of her father's death. She thanked his spirit for that.

"Embry used to start every day with her shouting at him for sneaking out," Rachel was furious on his behalf. "At least now she lets him out, but she still does that mother disapproval act. She tells him he is a disappointment to her without actually saying it. Plus we are having sex under _her _roof. The looks she gives us; it bizarre… as if we are doing anything out of the ordinary by having sex…"

She rubbed at her face.

"I know he doesn't want me to say anything but I can't keep silent on this… and add in the crap about his father." She shook her head, "Someone has to speak to her. She just thinks he is with me now, but she still does not know about the patrols. She won't come near his room if I am staying over."

"I can speak to her about the wolf thing, but I can't do much about the fatherhood issue," Sue suggested. "I can lobby the council to tell her about the phasing."

"I can deal with the fatherhood thing," said Rachel.

"What how?" Leah asked.

"**I **will pay for DNA testing. The only candidates left are Uley and Waggener right? Sam and Paul want to know, so if I pay for the test, we will all know."

"He will not be happy with you," suggested Rowana.

"He wants to know too, he has just tied himself up into this Gordian knot and he just waits now for someone else to do it for him…" she paused, "… and** that **would be me. The whole 'meet the family thing' with the Calls has fallen apart with delays from their end, so he still hasn't met all of them. I think it would be amazing if he could take his half brother with him to meet them all. Raven told him to bring his half brother to her too. She'll embrace them both."

She looked at them all as if she would fight for this; it mattered to her too.

"He needs it," she stated.

"How are you going to get a sample of his DNA without him realising what you are doing?" asked Rowana.

"Jeez I don't know, I'll just spit in a cup or scrape some of his skin out from under my nails or something."

Leah snorted with laughter at the look on the older women's faces.

* * *

**Emily has a son**

Nathan Uley was born after an uncomplicated and relatively quick labour. Eight hours wasn't so bad Charles Eastman tried to reassure Sam.

But Sam was feeling conflicted that he had hurt his imprint; he had put her through nine months of discomfort and then eight hours of pain. She had damn near crushed his hand during the more severe contractions. Lucky he had fast healing.

Now she looked exhausted but she was glowing. Her hair was a complete mess and was plastered to her sweat soaked head. She lay on the bed with a blood-spattered baby lying in the centre of her naked chest. He had been going to cry but had calmed right down the second he was placed on her chest where he could hear her heart beating. His umbilical cord was still connected. He had literally made it into the world minutes ago and Sam had felt his entire world tilt on its axis. He had been oddly concerned that he loved Emily so much, that there would not be room in his heart for his child. He had never said anything about it. But now he realised that his heart had just doubled in size. It had to have, to fit them both in there.

Sam thought that baby was the most amazing thing he had ever seen.

That tiny little hand flexed its long slim fingers as if he was looking for something to hold. Sam gently poked his finger out and the tiny baby closed his hand around the tip of Sam's finger.

"Do you want to cut the cord?" Charles asked him.

He didn't want to let go of that little hand and he looked panicked for a second. Charles seemed to understand and he helped Sam cut through the link between baby and mother. Somebody took a photo.

"Look at those long thigh bones," commented Charles, "he is going to be as tall as you one day Sam."

Sam was literally speechless. Emily reached out to touch his face as a single tear trickled down his cheek. He smiled at the thought that it was her, comforting him.

"You will have to hold him for a minute Sam; we need to get the placenta out in one nice clean piece." Charles just matter of factly dumped the baby into Sam's arms and turned his attention back to Emily.

"Come on Emily," he encouraged, "one last contraction should get it out."

Sam tucked his son in against his naked chest and sat in the armchair. His legs felt pretty squiffy right now. He laid the baby along his arm to give him the once over. His head fitted easily into the palm of Sam's hand. The baby frowned at him as if he was upset about losing his finger hold. Sam studied him. He was covered in blood and some other weird fluids and something that looked like barrier cream. He sniffed him. He smelt like Emily's vagina. He thought better of saying that aloud, she would probably smack him. He checked him all out. He had ten fingers, ten toes, and some pretty hefty reddish looking balls. "That's my boy," he told him.

The baby waved his arm around.

"Hey watch those claws." His nails were a little long. "Lucky you didn't scratch your way out."

His eyes were already pretty dark and he tried really hard to focus on his father but gave up the attempt and yawned.

"You're just worn out, aren't you? Guess you have had a pretty busy day so far." He lifted him up and tucked him into his chest again; close to his heart. He didn't care that he still hadn't been cleaned.

"We boys will just wait for your mother to say when she is ready to feed you. You can have a nap but if you crap on me you will be in trouble."

Sam sat quietly with his son. His big warm hands would keep him plenty warm enough until they finished with Emily and found him a blanket.

"Nathan," he told him, "just so as you know… your name is Nathan. Is that okay with you?"

The baby made some small, squirmy noise.

"I'll take that as a 'yes'."

FF_2154210_ - 25/01/2011 11:59:00 AM


	24. The council decides

**Chapter 24 The council decides**

Disclaimer: _ the characters and all recognisable situations belong to Stephenie Meyer- this is a work of fan fiction, except for the legends and histories of the Quileute that, of course, belong to them. I pay my respects to their gods._

_Thanks to BanSidhe for betaing._

The tribal council spent much time debating what to do about Marlena Call. She would have been astonished to find out she was even the subject of one of their discussions. Jake was in attendance as the Alpha of the wolf pack.

Sue had major concerns. "I remember when we interfered in the imprinting of Paul on Bella. We ordered him to stay away from her and it nearly killed them both."

Jake winced at the memory of that time in his life. He had received an accidental memory flash from Paul of a pretty intense sex session with Bella after they had been ordered apart for less than a week. He had beaten Paul to a pulp when he had thought he had hurt Bella. Jake knew better now. He wondered how a third person might view some of his and Leah's couplings for want of a better word.

Sue paused. "Are we really sure we have the right to interfere now?"

Jake sighed. "Embry starts almost every day with her shouting at him because he refuses to tell her why he is sneaking out of the house. He has a choice of either disobeying me or disobeying her. He is doing his pack patrol duties. The pack lobbied Sam to tell her when he was the Alpha but Embry would not allow it."

Old Quil shook his head. "She should be proud of him; of what he does. It is an honour to be a member of the protectors of La Push."

"If she doesn't know, she can't be proud of him," pointed out Jake.

"What about the imprint on Rachel?" Billy asked. Clearly, the subject was close to his heart.

Jake replied. "She is not supportive of their relationship. She doesn't understand why their relationship has become so serious, so quickly. Again, Embry can't tell her about imprinting, because he won't tell her about being a shifter."

"In some ways, he is too close to the situation to see it clearly," suggested another council member.

"The fact that he chooses to do his patrol shows where his heart lies," old Quil stated. "If he is doing his duty, then **he** has chosen the pack. We have no choice but to do ours. We will tell her because it will make** his** life easier, not because she deserves to know or to improve her life. We will assist him in that task. He is our priority."

"If his mother breaks with him, he has his imprint to support him," said Billy, as if he had given some thought to that as a possible conclusion.

"Will she keep the secret?" asked old Quil.

Sue snorted, "Marlena Call is _very _good at keeping secrets."

"We should do it now," Billy spoke. "No more delays."

Sue was sent to get Marlena and Jake to get Embry. They came into the meeting hall from opposite directions; not by design, it just worked out that way.

Marlena was sitting in the meeting hall looking confused. She started looking worried when Sue went around the room latching the doors and making sure the windows were covered. Sue had not told her anything other than she had to attend and she had picked her up, so that she_ did_ attend.

Jake had Embry in a side room. He could not let his friend go into this cold. "Embry I have to tell you something and I don't know where to start."

"What is it, Jake?"

"The council are going to order you to phase."

Embry looked confused. "Why would they…?"

"Embry… your Mum is here."

"She is… what… why?"

"She needs to know about the wolf pack. The council have made your decision for you," Jake said.

Embry looked torn. "But…" he trailed off. "She's not ready to know."

"Will she ever be?" Jake asked.

Embry shrugged.

"Why don't you want her to know?" asked Jake.

"She'll blame herself… and she'll blame me. It will be _yet_ another thing she can be angry with **me **about. Another thing added on to the pile of reasons why I ruined her life."

"Does she really think like that?" Jake asked.

Embry shrugged. "It's how she acts," he mumbled.

Jake held his shoulder. He didn't know what to say to that. "I am your friend Embry, and I think this is for the best."

Embry didn't answer him.

"No more secrets, eh?" Jake suggested.

"Billy's calling," said Embry, avoiding giving Jake an answer.

Embry walked into the room with his Alpha and his friend. He lifted his chin; Quil was right, being a wolf was pretty cool. He had accepted what he was; now his mother would have to do it too. She no longer had a choice.

He could see his mother look confused when she recognised him. She was probably wondering what he was doing here. He tried to give her a comforting smile.

He and Jake stopped a fair distance from her. They stood and waited.

"Thank you for coming here tonight, Marlena." Billy paused. "You are Makah," stated Billy to Marlena, "but you are aware of the tribal legends of the Quileute." It was a statement.

"The tribe descended from the wolves in the great flood," she said.

"Correct," agreed Billy, "but in one respect, those stories are not legends. In times of great need, members of the tribe gain the ability to become a wolf. They are shape shifters, with enhanced abilities like speed and rapid healing. They are giant wolves with human cognitive function. Together, as a pack, they fight our enemies. Many of us are descendants of the last wolf pack."

Marlena had started with a shocked look on her face but then it had changed to scepticism.

Billy could see that she did not believe him. "One of us saw that earlier transformation with their own eyes." He gave old Quil a nod of recognition.

He paused. "But now our enemies have returned and are among us again. There is a need for the wolf pack and the Gods have seen fit to grant the shape shifter ability to the descendants of that earlier pack."

Marlena still looked sceptical.

"The existence of the pack is a secret of the utmost importance. It cannot be spoken of to anyone. The duties of the pack are life threatening and dangerous. The pack members are often young; sometimes too young. The tribe will not allow them to do that duty unsupported by their tribe and their families."

Marlena glanced at Jake and Embry. They were standing, at ease, like soldiers with their arms held behind their backs. She still hadn't put it all together.

"Your son, like mine, is a descendant of that original pack."

Embry thought that was smart of Billy; to make it obvious that other parents had to deal with the same issue.

"Embry?" Marlena asked quietly.

He ignored her.

Billy looked at him. "Embry, if you please."

Jake turned and held out his hand for Embry's clothing. He stripped his t-shirt off and passed it to Jake. Then he dropped his cut offs and stepped out of them. Jake picked them up off the floor and took several steps away from him.

Embry stood there naked. Oddly, he felt dignified. He was not embarrassed by taking his clothes off in front of the council. He looked at his mother. She was looking shocked. He thought that no one was sitting next to her, holding her hand, making it easier for her. In one sense, she had brought this on herself. He couldn't help her now.

He nodded at Billy, closed his eyes and reached for his inner wolf. He thought about running through the forest, the smell of the leaf litter, the scent of moisture in the air, his paws pounding into the ground. It felt odd to do it indoors, they were normally so careful to never phase inside a room.

His body gave a shudder and he phased.

He heard his mother's scream and he almost felt his heart break. She was _not_ going to accept this.

She had fallen on the floor in her shock. Jake reached her first, of course, with his greater speed, but she must have remembered that Billy said he was a wolf too and when he tried to help her up, she smacked his hand away.

"Get away from me," she shouted at him.

"Beautiful phase, nearly seamless," he heard old Quil whisper, "well done."

Embry would have smiled at that if he could have; he was a sweet old man. He just nodded his massive head to tell old Quil he had heard him.

"He got_ this_ from his father?" Marlena hissed.

Embry looked at her. He did not recognise her. She looked utterly horrified. He flashed through his shared memories. Phasing in front of someone they cared about was a huge risk for the wolves; for a _whole lot _of reasons. Sam had almost killed Emily. Paul had lost it when Bella slapped him. Leah and Seth had shocked their father so badly; he had died of a heart attack. But others had different memories. Kim had scratched behind Jared's ears with exactly the same adoring look she always wore when she saw him; as if she could not believe that he was hers. And the day they had killed the Rastafarian vamp in the clearing, Bella had looked into Jake's deep brown eyes with complete recognition of the human inside; not the monster. It was a spectacular effort, given she was utterly terrified, surrounded by a whole pack of giant wolves and had just been threatened by a vampire. He wasn't even her imprint; just her best friend and she had recognised him. Paul was so lucky to have her.

Now Embry had his own disastrous phase memory to add to the others. His own mother could not see him as anything but a monster. Thank the Gods, Rachel had snorted his clothes and waved at him without fear. He could still cling to that memory.

He had Rachel.

Marlena had scrabbled to her feet; knocking over a chair in her rush.

"No, no," she babbled. She turned and she ran for the exit; fumbling with the lock of the door before flinging it open and running. She didn't look back.

Embry let out a small whimper. He phased back to human and collapsed on the floor with his legs folded up under him and his head low. His hair hung across his face.

"Well, that went well," said old Quil sarcastically.

"God help that woman," hissed Sue Clearwater.

Jake passed him his cut offs, with a whispered apology. Embry took them but his hand just dropped into his lap and he didn't put them on.

"Call Rachel, Jake," Billy ordered.

After a period in which no one else moved, Rachel came sprinting in the door. She must have driven from the Black house she had got there so quickly. Embry was not aware of anything.

Embry's head lifted for the first time when he heard her come in.

She took one look at his face. "Oh, Embry," she sympathised. She threw herself onto him and wrapped her arms around him. "I'm here," she told him. It was all he needed to hear. He finally moved; he fell sideways to lie on the floor, curled into a foetal position, with his cut-offs held over his groin with his hand and he put his head in her lap. She just rubbed his back. The others left them alone.

FF_2154210_ - 26/01/2011 04:16:00 AM


	25. Test results

**Chapter 25 Test results**

Disclaimer: _ the characters and all recognisable situations belong to Stephenie Meyer- this is a work of fan fiction, except for the legends and histories of the Quileute that, of course, belong to them. I pay my respects to their gods._

_Thanks to BanSidhe for betaing._

**The boys**

Marlena Call had stopped shouting at Embry. They barely spoke these days.

Rachel was as good as her word. She collected samples from Paul and Sam, and secretly from Embry and sent them off to a reputable DNA testing lab. She explained the close family ties and sent them a copy of the family tree so that they could see where they all fitted.

But now the votes were in, as it were. She had the envelope in her hand.

Rachel was torn. She had asked Sam and Paul to come over to the Black house. But she_ still _hadn't told Embry. It almost killed her to keep anything a secret from him. She would have sworn the envelope from the DNA testing lab was flashing like a neon light or maybe it was burning a hole through her shirt. She kept patting it to make sure.

She sighed. She really hoped she was doing the right thing. She was his imprint; he couldn't be angry with her forever… right?

Paul came in the back screen door without announcing himself. Typical.

"Hey, Rachel. What's up?"

She just held up the envelope.

"Ahh," he said and took a seat at the table. After a minute or so, he got up and started pacing.

"Fuck Paul, you're making me more nervous."

"Yeah, I know but I just can't sit still you know."

"I know."

"Where's Embry?"

"Patrol."

"You still haven't told him?"

"No."

There was a knock on the back screen door.

"Come in Sam." It had to be him; no one else knocked.

He gave Paul a look and then saw Rachel's face.

"It's back?"

"The results are in. I cannot open it. I thought maybe if you two were here…" her voice trailed off.

Sam glanced at Paul.

"Don't look at me," he said, "I am just as nervous as she is." He backed up against the kitchen bench and folded his arms across his chest tightly.

Sam reached out a hand and she placed the envelope flat on his palm.

"Well," he said as he took a deep breath, "for me, I feel like it either confirms something we already suspected or else it actually absolves him of something he didn't do." He shrugged. "It's win/win for me."

He picked up a knife from the edge of the sink and used it to slice the envelope open neatly. That was so like something Embry would do, Rachel thought. She had been driving herself crazy watching them all for sibling similarities.

"Do you want me to read it out?"

"Just summarise Sam," Paul suggested.

They held their breath while he read quickly through the test results. He shuffled the pages, checking data and then he looked up at them both.

His eyes flicked over to Paul. "Congratulations; you've got a brother," he said and then he added, "Wow, my father is not the complete deadbeat we all assumed."

Paul just blinked. He was frozen on the spot.

Rachel leapt to her feet and hugged him, but it was like hugging a block of wood.

"Paul?"

"He's in shock," said Sam. There was a pause. "Can I slap him?" he asked mischievously.

"No; no slapping family," from Rachel.

"Family," Paul repeated.

Rachel tugged him over to a chair. "Sit down before you fall down, Paul."

He sat.

He blinked.

He smiled.

"I have a brother," he breathed.

"Yes, you do," the others agreed.

Then Paul rocketed to his feet. "I have to tell Bella," he said and he shot out the door.

"Cool," said Sam. He clapped Rachel on the shoulder, "I have to get back to Em and the baby. How are you going to tell Embry?"

Rachel just shrugged.

"Maybe tie him up first," suggested Sam with a laugh.

* * *

**Test results – Embry**

Embry got back to his house after patrol and Rachel was not there. He went searching for her and found her at the Black house. She was still sitting at the kitchen table in the dark.

"Hey, what are you doing sitting in the dark?" he asked her. "I looked for you at my place."

"Promise you wont be angry with me?" she begged.

"How can I promise when I don't know what you did; what you are so frightened of," he asked reasonably.

"Please Embry."

"Okay, okay, I promise."

She let out a big breath.

"Rachel?" he sounded suspicious now. He was crouched down next to her, with one knee on the floor. She was his imprint and he adored her, but he was terrified of what she was going to confess. It had to be bad if she was sitting in the dark.

She closed her eyes. She had no idea why she needed to not see his face, but she could not say this and see his face at the same time. It was beyond her.

"I sent in a DNA sample from you, Paul and Sam to be analysed. They were here when we opened the results envelope."

There was a deathly silence.

"You did what?" he choked out.

"I paid for it myself. I thought you should know who your father is."

Silence.

His strained voice almost whispered, "What did it say?" He sounded torn, as if he did and did _not_ want to know.

"Paul is your half brother."

"Paul?"

"Yes, that's right. It said you and Paul share the same DNA. You have the same father."

"Paul," he repeated.

"Yes."

"Where is he?"

"He was so excited. He rushed home to tell Bella."

"And Sam?"

"He's really relieved his father is not the complete deadbeat we all assumed."

She reached out and tentatively put her arm across his shoulder. He was still crouched down next to her. "Are you angry with me?" she asked.

"I don't know."

Well that was honest.

She pushed her chair out a little and pulled at him. He lowered his face down and laid it in her lap. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and she held him as tight as she could. Her legs opened to pull him closer to her body.

"Paul." He pressed his face into her stomach. She reached down and rubbed up his back. His arms reached around her back and held on.

He took a gulping breath and then he cried.

"I am always crying lately," he noted when he had himself under control.

"Maybe you're pregnant," joked Rachel. She hugged him harder. "You've had some pretty heavy shit go down in the last few months Embry. Cut yourself some slack."

"I am still angry with you," he said but he did not sound it.

"Does that mean you don't want to fuck me?"

"I always want to fuck you." He lifted his head and leaned up for a kiss.

"Oh goodie."

He kissed her with a kind of desperation. As if he was drowning and she was his lifejacket. She slid off the chair and into his lap. He stood lifting her easily. She adored his easy strength; it astounded her that he could stand, lifting her from a crouch on the floor with not a tremble or a grunt; in fact, he didn't even break the kiss. She was not a slim little girl and no one had ever lifted her like that before.

Billy had refused to let her move out. He argued that he had not seen her for years and she was not leaving now. She had fixed up Jacob's little room but it was still only big enough for a single bed. Not that that was a concern to Embry now. The room was almost an enclosed veranda and was poorly insulated and freezing in the winter, but she knew with Embry there, she would be more than warm.

She let him do what he wanted. Today, he was in charge. She loved him and he needed this. And what he needed was soft, gentle, slow and exquisite.

And he got it.

His eyes were killing her; they were deep brown pools into his soul. A little red from the tears he had cried for the brother he had not known until now.

She touched him. She rubbed her hands on him. She told him she was here with him. He peeled her out of her clothes. She slid her hands down and undid his cut-offs and pushed them down. She stood up as she did so. His hand slid into her hair and held her to his face. She turned and he followed her movement until his back was to the bed. She pushed on his shoulders and he sat. She climbed onto him and lowered herself onto him.

He made a sound as he entered her. It was something between a sob and a sigh. If she had not adored him before, after she heard that sound, she would have killed for him.

She would do anything for him now.

She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and moved herself slowly and gently on him.

His big hands held her easily at the waist as he moved her with him. She gazed into his eyes. She untucked her legs and folded them behind him; almost like she was sitting cross legged in his lap. She sank even further onto him.

She felt unbelievably full, he was so deep inside her. Their movements were restricted by the position but it was somehow incredibly intimate. She realised their breathing matched; they were so in tune with each other.

It was a slow, gentle increase of sexual tension. She gripped him inside her with her vaginal muscles and he made little movements of his own. It was almost like tantric sex, slow and building. She had no idea how long they sat there smoothly rocking on each other.

He reached down and held her ass cheeks; churning her now on him and rubbing her clitoris hard against him. She pulled his hair a little; she could not help herself. She moaned and shuddered. He stopped and held her with enough force to bruise. She wanted to squirm but couldn't move; and that excited her more.

"I love you," she told him. He nipped and bit at her neck. She shivered and with a sigh, she came.

She did not even realise she was crying until he spoke.

"Don't cry Rachel," he begged her as he kissed away her tears.

She shook her head; she had no words.

"My one and only," he told her intently. He held her firmly, thrust up further into her as he filled her with a sigh of his own. They wrapped their arms around each other and held on.

For once, it was Embry who pulled away first.

"I need to talk to my mother," he said.

Rachel did not want him to be hurt any more. "Stay here," she begged him, "please stay here Embry."

He looked at her doubtfully.

"Don't get hurt any more today. It's late; it's really late… do it tomorrow," she begged.

He sighed again and nodded.

They untangled from each other long enough to pull back the covers on the bed. He climbed in first and pushed his back up against the wall, holding his arms out for her. She climbed in and shuffled her back up against him. Spooning allowed him to fit his long legs in the little bed. He wrapped her in his arms and pulled her close like his favourite teddy bear.

"Rachel?"

"Hmm?"

"Thank you for getting the test done for me… you're right, I probably would have wimped out… and not done it… so …thank you."

"Anything for you."

He kissed her hair and closed his eyes to sleep.

FF_2154210_ - 26/01/2011 04:01:00 PM


	26. Sentences starting with 'I'

**Chapter 26 Sentences starting with 'I'**

Disclaimer: _ the characters and all recognisable situations belong to Stephenie Meyer- this is a work of fan fiction, except for the legends and histories of the Quileute that, of course, belong to them. I pay my respects to their gods._

_Thanks to BanSidhe for betaing._

Embry went home after breakfast with the Blacks. He was almost literally humming with tension. Rachel stayed out of it. She understood that this was something he needed to do on his own. She had done enough; she had loved him enough last night to help him through this.

He walked into the kitchen and threw the test result envelope on the table in front of his mother. And then he went and stood in the corner of the room where he gripped both counters in his hands. He glowered at her. The counters creaked ominously.

She reached hesitantly towards the envelope. She caught sight of the address and the name on the envelope; DNA laboratories and she drew back her hand quickly, as if it had burnt her.

"What's this?" she asked.

"I told you I wouldn't stop looking."

"Oh."

There was silence for a minute or two.

"What did it say?" she asked.

"Like you don't know?" he was sarcastic now.

She cringed. He had never spoken to her like that before.

"I was trying to protect you," she blustered.

"No."

More silence.

"You were protecting yourself," Embry added.

"I know Rachel had something to do with this …"

He growled at her. The sound was so real; so animalistic, it shocked her. She might have learnt that he was a wolf recently, but the reality of it was now pretty clear.

"Don't," he warned her, "do not try to make this Rachel's fault."

He pushed himself away from the counters with a movement so abrupt, it frightened her.

He started to pace, back and forth in the tiny kitchen. He looked like a caged tiger at the zoo.

"Once I phased… became a shifter… there was only a limited number of options… that particular gene is only passed down to descendants of the original wolf pack… do you know what it was like to look at the faces of my pack and wonder which one of them was my brother? Do you have any idea what that was like? And for them to be thinking the same thing? I even hoped it might be Billy Black for a while."

She cowered at the table. She still hadn't touched the envelope.

He stared at her as if he didn't recognise her.

She still said nothing.

But then he lost it.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Embry shouted at his mother.

"I was so frightened that you would be like him."

"Like _**him**_?" he snorted. "That doesn't even make sense! How could knowing he was my father, make me want to be like him? He's such a fantastic role model! The man is a drunk and a wife beater!"

"Yes," she agreed, "he is all of those things. And the longer I kept it a secret, the harder it was to tell you… I'd set myself little goals. 'I'll tell him when he's ten.' But you couldn't understand when you were only ten, so I will do it when you are 12, when you are16. And then those goals would come and go."

There was silence for a beat.

"Noah Waggener was not a nice man," she tried to justify herself.

"I know that! Better than you do. You don't understand Mum. The pack has a shared mind. When I am a wolf, I can share thoughts and memories with the other pack members if they are phased. We need it to function. I can see_ inside_ Paul's head, Paul uses it as a safety mechanism if he wants privacy; he thinks about what his father did to him and we all get out of his head as fast as we can. **It's that bad!"**

She put her hands over her ears, to block out what he was saying.

"You don't know a quarter of what he did to his wife and his son. Nobody does, except the pack. And I am not sure **we **know everything."

He was breathing heavily and fighting with himself not to lose it completely and phase. He was angry with her but he did not want another Emily accident with his mother.

"We could have** helped** him. You left my _brother_ to be beaten and …" he didn't have the words for what had been done to Paul. "We could have helped him."

"How could I have helped him? He wasn't mine to take," she pleaded. "He was living with his _parents_. I am a single parent. We struggled enough to get by."

She gulped and sobbed. "And the older Paul got, the more he looked and behaved just like his father. The womanising, the anger issues; he was always in trouble with the police. It frightened me more."

"Jeez Mum, you can't blame all of that on genetics! He's my father too and I am nothing like that! Do you think some of that behaviour might have been from the way he was raised? And what about when they left? Huh? He was alone for ages when they left. He was seventeen and living alone and _you_ didn't even try to help him. Did you even take him a freaking casserole or something?"

And then he thought of something else.

"Did **he** _know_ I was his son?"

"I never told him, but he could have guessed. It was not hard to work out. He never took any interest in you. He did not seem to care. It was like you didn't show up on his radar at all."

"I guess I should be _thankful_ he didn't want me. If he had claimed me, he might have treated me like Paul."

"He didn't want you, he didn't want me …," she cried. She was sobbing now and Embry couldn't be angry with her anymore. He reached out, pulled her out of her chair and hugged her. Her arms went hesitantly around his waist. They had barely touched recently.

"Roman told me your father hung up on you if you telephoned your family." He was trying to be conciliatory.

"I didn't know what to do. I was so young and my family threw me out. I came here. I thought Noah would help me. And then to find, not only was he married with a wife a few months more pregnant than I was, but to see for the first time what kind of a man he really was. He just laughed at me. Didn't even offer me the money for an abortion. He must have been on his best behaviour that weekend we met. Really made every effort to impress in the charm stakes, until he got what he wanted. I tried to ask my father for help. He gave me another speech about 'making your own bed' or whatever he said. I was shattered; I could not believe he would not offer me** any **help at all. He black listed me; made the whole family promise not to help me; never spoke my name again. I lied to my mother and told her I was getting married. She couldn't have helped me anyway."

"You didn't have an abortion."

"It wasn't your fault. I guess in some silly way, I thought you were all I had left. I thought you would love me unconditionally. They way a child is supposed to love their parent. You were all I had left," she repeated. "I thought that if I stayed here and gave you some kind of tribe; it would be the best I could do for you. I had already made so many mistakes."

"No Mum, you made one mistake. You just got involved with the wrong guy."

He was seriously concerned about what he wanted to say next, but they had hurt each other with their secrets. He took a deep breath. "So, if you don't think it was my fault, why do you keep blaming me?"

She just looked at him. She pulled back from his arms. "I don't blame you."

"Yes, you do."

She opened her mouth, but nothing came out.

"You give off this constant aura of disapproval; nothing I do is right."

"I don't believe that. That's not true," she argued.

"Isn't it? You have isolated yourself from everybody; made me the centre of your life and then you keep finding fault with me. It's not my fault! You say that, but you hate what I have become. You don't like me and you don't like the wolf that is part of me now."

She looked horrified; as if she had only just seen how he could interpret her behaviour.

"I never thought… I…" she shook her head. "I'm sorry, Embry. I will try harder."

That was the best she could do he supposed, but it made him realise that most of his mother's sentences started with 'I'.

"Okay Mum," he hugged her again. She was his mother, he desperately wanted her love, and he didn't want her angry with him.

She hugged him. "I was so glad you were such a good boy; that you weren't like Paul," she confessed.

"Paul's a good guy now, mum. He's one of the best."

They hugged each other.

"Raven wants to meet him. She says my half brother is part of her family too."

"She's trying to apologise as well; I get that." Marlena wiped at her face.

"Can he come with us to the birthday party?" Embry asked.

"Of course he can come with us. I need to apologise to him too."

"He doesn't have any family now, except for Bella. We can be his family now."

"Yes we can try," she agreed.

Embry really hoped she was going to try, but somehow he doubted it. He feared Rachel was right; she was so set in her ways; she could not even see how she behaved. She barely accepted him, and he was her son. His half brother had no chance.

FF_2154210_ - 28/01/2011 11:56:00 AM


	27. Bonfire for baby

**Chapter 27 Bonfire for baby**

Disclaimer: _ the characters and all recognisable situations belong to Stephenie Meyer- this is a work of fan fiction, except for the legends and histories of the Quileute that, of course, belong to them. I pay my respects to their gods._

_Thanks to BanSidhe for betaing._

Jake organised a pack bonfire to celebrate the birth of Nathan Uley and to tell everyone Embry and Paul's news.

They held it at the Uley house. The fire pit there had a big gap in usage for a while when things were strained between Leah and Emily, but the reconciliation of Leah, Sam and Emily had healed many things. New brooms, you know the rest. [AN: dealt with in 'where's my happy ever after?']

It had been used frequently lately, mostly when Bella spat it and chucked them all out of her and Paul's house. The pack always did like to hang together.

The women tried desperately hard to stop Emily trying to cater for the whole thing, but she was unstoppable. Bella helped out by baking up a storm and she made all the desserts. The fold away tables were groaning with the amount of food piled on them. It actually looked like the pack might have leftovers for once. Whole salmons, wrapped in foil were grilling in the ashes, along with several pounds of potatoes.

Even Rachel turned out to be able to make a mean salad. Embry was very proud of her for trying so hard. He knew she hated being the Victorian stay at home woman who baked. He preferred her other skills.

Embry and Paul kept making eye contact. Rachel had commented that she had driven herself nuts studying them and Sam for similar sibling behaviour traits before she knew the result of the test. Now Embry knew what she meant. Every time Paul did something, he was thinking that he did that too. But it was impossible to determine what was learnt pack behaviour and what was genetic predisposition. They had spent so many hours together anyway.

Occasionally he caught himself watching Paul and it made him feel good to think that he was his half brother. Paul seemed to be doing the same and they would grin at each other when they caught the other doing it.

Sam seemed to have grown another six inches; he was just radiating joy and pride. He was still completely focused on his son. He fussed about the baby being held by too many people. He was sure it would upset him to be passed around from one person to another; and what if they held him too hard and hurt him. He was so fragile. And the house was too noisy, and too full of people, how would he sleep when he needed to. Emily assured him, that Nathan would be fine and _he_ would let them know when he did not want to be held by strangers anymore. As if, it would have been possible for them to _stop_ people holding him; everyone wanted to touch him.

Emily pointed out that as his father's son; he seemed to have no problems sleeping at all.

The pack especially seemed to need to get close to him; perhaps it was a scent marker thing. They needed to recognise him as one of their own.

He seemed to have a special place as the first pack baby. Everyone literally wanted a piece of him. Even Seth, who usually avoided babies like the plague, had a nurse.

Jake carried the baby over and handed him to Leah. He made sure he was at her shoulder. He knew she and Emily had worked through many of their issues, but he was a little concerned about how the reality of holding Sam's baby would hit her. She was fine. She gave him a look, rolled her eyes at him and elbowed him in the ribs, hard.

"Trying to tell me something, Jake?"

She cackled at the look on his face, clearly he hadn't quite thought that one through. She held the baby easily in one arm as if she had done it a dozen times before. He supposed she might have with all her cousins. His inner wolf was desperate to see her pregnant with his pups. She had got around it this heat season, but he was planning all sorts of strategies to get around her next season. Pity he couldn't Alpha order Charles to give her a fake contraceptive shot. It would be worth it; even if she beat the crap out of him for doing it. He gave her a beaming smile and she looked instantly suspicious.

Paul watched Bella from the other side of the room when Nathan was passed to her. She got a weird look on her face; she looked almost stricken. Emily got to her before Paul did and reassured her that she was holding him properly, that he was fine and not fussing at all. He was wide-awake and he and Bella stared at each other with serious eyes.

Jacob chose that moment to call everyone to attention for the other pack news, so Bella kept holding the baby. She and Emily sat on the lounge together. Bella laid him along her legs, with his head at her knees, so that he could see his mother sitting next to her. She held his tiny hand and studied him intently.

"A pack mystery has been solved due to the combined detective skills of Quil Ateara, Embry Call and Rachel Black," announced Jake in solemn voice. "It seems that a long time ago; lets call it twenty years, a La Push resident made a trip to Neah Bay and met the young and I have no doubt, pretty, Marlena Call. The result of that weekend was our own Embry Call and the identity of that La Push native was," he paused for effect, "Noah Waggener."

There were hoots, whistles and catcalls. It was all needlessly dramatic, as the whole pack knew anyway. The shared mind had taken care of that, but nobody seemed to care.

"My theory," continued Jake, "is that they stuffed it up somehow and Paul got 100% anger and Embry got 100% calm. But I know you all may have other theories…"

"There is some facial resemblance," interrupted Leah, "they are both, kind of thin in the face."

"Embry gets the chin dimple, Paul doesn't have that," commented Seth.

Bella beamed at Paul and he made his way over to her. He leaned in to speak to her, "Baby, are you okay?"

"Yes," she smiled at him. "Look at him, Paul, isn't he adorable?"

"He sure is," agreed Paul. "But you know what I like about babies? It is the way they smell. They have a kind of a special scent all their own. You sniff him right in the side of the neck."

She did. "Wow, I see what you mean," she said. Nathan squirmed and got his fingers caught in her hair. Paul untangled them carefully as Bella laughed.

Sam was thanking everyone for all their gifts and best wishes for his new family. "I don't know who coined the phrase, 'sleeps like a baby'," he said, "but clearly they have never slept with one. They make some amazing noises in their sleep. They kind of burp, laugh, gurgle and crap all at the same time; they… explode. I can say with no doubt, that my life has changed forever and that I could not be happier." He and Emily beamed at each other.

Everyone cheered. There was much backslapping and congratulations for everyone. The party continued long into the night.

* * *

**Rachel's new job**

Embry was at home when his phone rang. It was Rachel.

"Hey, Honey," he answered.

"Embry," she squealed. "I got a job in Forks," she squealed again; that small noise of excitement and joy that he had only ever heard come out of Rachel's mouth.

"Honey, that's great news. Where?"

"At the sex shop in Forks," she said.

"What?" He can't have heard her properly.

"At the sex shop in Forks," she repeated.

"Aah..." He imagined his life going to hell in a hand basket when the pack found out about this. Especially Paul and Quil. He was doomed; doomed I tell you.

"I always chat to the owner. She needs someone to work extra hours… a sort of a manager because she wants to go into semi-retirement… and I have some retail experience from working during college and I have been in there a little recently as you would know… and as a real bonus, she is looking for a business partner for the future. She has run it for years. She says she is tired and getting too old and no one quite believes her recommendations anymore," she babbled on excitedly. "So wouldn't that just be unbelievably cool if one day I could buy the business from her? If one day it could be mine… we could change the name… maybe we could call it 'Heat' or something… imagine if we could tap into the internet shopping market…"

"There's a sex shop in Forks?" Embry was still a little behind in the conversation.

"Well of _course_ there is. You don't think I drive to Port Angeles to buy super heavy-duty lube, butt plugs and body chocolate do you?" she sounded incredulous.

"I … I… never thought about it," Embry admitted.

"And because I did business studies and marketing at college, it all fits in with my training… and I mean, it's a_ sex shop_… nothing like combining work and pleasure … they always say you should try to get a job that fits with your personal interests…."

He could hear her bouncing excitedly in place through the phone.

"It's perfect!" she crowed.

"Wait a second," he said, "You said 'we'. Please tell me you don't want me to help you run a sex shop."

"You could be quality control," she told him seriously.

Paul and Quil were definitely going to make his life a living Hell. Not to mention Jake; somehow he just knew that Jake was going to blame **him** for this.

FF_2154210_ - 28/01/2011 09:51:00 PM


	28. Hurting Rachel

**Chapter 28 Hurting Rachel**

Disclaimer: _ the characters and all recognisable situations belong to Stephenie Meyer- this is a work of fan fiction, except for the legends and histories of the Quileute that, of course, belong to them. I pay my respects to their gods._

_Thanks to BanSidhe for betaing._

**Warning: remember children safe sex always – and don't forget your safe word if you **_**are **_**into bondage – should I give a pointless lemon warning?**

Embry somehow knew that Rachel was in a mood for games. Mostly because she waved a pair of bondage cuffs at him.

He noticed that she had two pairs. He frowned. "How is that going to work if we are both cuffed?"

"No silly," she rolled her eyes, "they are both for me."

He waited; she would tell him what she wanted.

"I want you to cuff me to the bed."

"Uh huh." He didn't sound excited by the prospect.

"And then I want you to hurt me."

He looked pained at that.

"Oh come on Embry; you won't really hurt me… I know you can't do that to your imprint but maybe you could hurt me just a little bit?" she pleaded.

She tried the quivering bottom lip thing and that got him every time. "Just hurt me a little Embry," she simpered. "It's what I want."

"All right, Rachel Honey. I'll try to hurt you."

"Ha!" she gave an excited hop in place. "It's perfect," she squealed, "because I know you can never hurt me for real, right?"

He raised an eyebrow at her. He had a thought.

"Now?" he asked.

"Yes, please."

"Okay then, get your clothes off."

She hurried to comply.

He actually felt a major rush of excitement when she came to him all submissive and accommodating. "Face down," he told her and she obeyed after throwing the pillows off the bed and onto the floor. He had to seriously resist the urge to take her right now. This should be fun.

He cuffed her hands to the head board. He checked them and he did not see how she could get them off without assistance. Maybe if she could get it into her mouth but her arms were too far apart. Her naked ass stuck up in the air and her arms were splayed out above her head.

She was almost panting now with excitement.

"Embry," she moaned breathlessly.

He pushed her so that she lay flat on the bed. He crawled up her body and laid himself down the length of her. He whispered in her ear. "I'm going to hurt you now."

She actually whimpered.

He crawled back down her body and laid a wet sucky kiss right on the small of her back where it met her buttocks. He could smell how excited she was. He smacked her once on the ass and stood up.

He stood there studying her as she lay, spread eagled on the bed. It almost made him lick his lips.

She tried to see him but he was right behind her and she couldn't turn her head far enough.

"Right," he said, "I'm going to have some lunch." He turned towards the door.

"What?" she shrieked.

"I'm hurting you Rachel," he pointed out.

"WHAT?"

"By _not_ hurting you," he sounded perfectly reasonable if a little smug. "_Not_ getting what you want is hurting you more…"

"Oh, I don't believe it." she sounded flustered and irritated; not turned on at all now. "I thought you got the point of this game," she told him.

"Oh I did," he answered, "Or I do. I understand. You want me to hurt you and… I am. I think I understand the game well."

"This is this imprint shit isn't it? Embry Call, you untie me this instant."

"No." He left the room.

She shrieked. She abused him. Embry had had people scream at him for some years now and he was very good at completely ignoring them. He was reading the newspaper happily, when Quil came into the kitchen.

"Dude, I have to ask. I can hear her from my place."

"She's tied up right now," Embry chuckled.

"Let me get this straight. You have Rachel Black tied to a bed and you are _not_ with her."

"I'm hurting her,"

Quil frowned. "I suppose that you are."

"It's what she wanted."

"Quil? Is that you?" came from the bedroom. "Untie me… please?" Rachel begged.

Quil looked at Embry. Quil took a step towards the bedroom and Embry just shook his head and growled at him. "Aah… I don't think I want to do that Rach; you know… see you naked and all…" he blustered loud enough for her to hear him.

"Oh my God," they heard, "as if the pack doesn't see us all naked_ all_ the time… don't give me that shit Quil Ateara! You get in here right now!"

"Eek," said Quil and he ran away.

Embry thought it was lucky she has not realised about her quasi-alpha voice yet. She could have ordered Quil to do it.

Embry folded the paper and washed his hands. He got a bottle of water for her. He leant in the bedroom doorway.

She must have heard him. She had managed to get her knees up under herself but she still hadn't got herself loose.

"You want a drink of water?"

"When you untie me I am going to bite your cock off."

He cringed a little. "I don't think you really want to do that."

He walked over to give her the bottle of water. He held it for her while she drank a little. She gave him the evil eye whilst she did it.

He put it on the bedside table and walked back to the end of the bed. He slipped out of his cut offs. He threw them up near the headboard so that they landed on the bed where she could see them and he heard her quick intake of breath. He reached up the bed and grabbed her by the ankles. She squealed as he pulled them down to the end of the bed so that she was flat on her stomach again. He held her legs apart.

He had to make sure she really wasn't angry with him. He knelt on the bed between her legs. She tried to kick him. He was so hard; they would have to play this game again properly another day. He loved her being laid out like this. She tried to kick him again and he changed his approach. He moved her legs together and sat on them.

"God dammit Embry," she swore at him.

He reached up and grabbed a buttock in each hand. He leant forward and kissed her again, right on the top of her ass crack. He laid a trail of kisses and little bites up her spine as he made his way up. By the time he reached the back of her neck, she was making small moaning noises.

He pressed his whole weight onto her; his erection fit beautifully in the crack of her ass. His arms followed the shape of hers and he held her at the wrists too, over the cuffs. His body traced hers. "You feel that?" he asked in her ear. "That's all for you." She moaned at the feel of him pressing against her.

"Do you want it now?"

"Please," she begged him.

He reversed a bit down the bed. He licked and bit at her spine again.

"I just made you wait for it," he told her. It was as much of an apology as she was going to get from him.

He lifted her hips a little and slid his thighs under her for support. He wanted to make sure she was wet enough for him. He really didn't want to hurt her. His hand reached around the front and slid into her. She was saturated. He couldn't resist adding a second hand at the rear and rubbing some of that moisture across her perineum and around her anus. She twitched and moaned.

"Fuck me," she begged as he made her wait for it just a little bit longer. His fingers played with her clitoris as his rear hand moved further forward and plunged inside her. He kept his long fingers working inside her until she came with a scream.

And then he dropped her back down onto the bed, positioned himself and entered her in one long hard thrust. She screamed again.

"Oh yes!" she screamed. He made long thrusts into her but he got dissatisfied with the angle and lifted her ass in the air again. Her face and shoulders were still on the bed. She couldn't get her arms underneath to lift herself.

He knew how much she loved being under his control. He put one hand under her right knee and lifted her onto him. The other hand went to her head and he ran his nails up her scalp. She moaned so loudly it surprised him.

He started to lift with his thighs, thrusting himself up into her in an endless rhythm. She bent her leg and pressed the sole of her foot onto his back. It was as if she needed to touch him but her foot was all she could reach him with.

He grunted her name as he thrust into her. He wasn't going to last long this time. He was as excited as she clearly was. She was moaning almost continuously now.

He grunted and slapped himself into her. He cried out her name as his back arched up and he came deep inside her and then collapsed on top of her.

They lay there trying to remember how to breathe. She muttered something.

"What's that Rachel?" he asked.

"Hair… you have your arm on my hair."

He sat up a bit and undid the cuffs. He pulled her in to him, rubbed, and massaged her arms. She had been there for a little while. She curled up against his chest as he sat leaning against the headboard.

"We need to talk about the rules with these kinds of games," she told him as she poked him in the chest.

"There are rules?"

"Of course."

"You never told me that," he argued.

"Okay," she agreed, "In that case I won't bite it off."

He chuckled.

FF_2154210_ - 30/01/2011 12:04:00 PM


	29. Raven's 60th

**Chapter 29 Raven's 60th**

Disclaimer: _ the characters and all recognisable situations belong to Stephenie Meyer- this is a work of fan fiction, except for the legends and histories of the Quileute that, of course, belong to them. I pay my respects to their gods._

_Thanks to BanSidhe for betaing._

Paul, Bella, Rachel and Embry drove to Neah Bay in Rachel's car. Marlena went in her own car by herself. Embry suspected it was in case she needed to leave in a hurry. She had an escape plan. He tried not to include his mother in his plans anymore.

Paul grizzled the whole way there about Neah bay being alcohol free. Pointing out to him that he couldn't even _get_ drunk anymore didn't help.

When they pulled up outside the house, Embry was just bursting with excitement. He threw himself out of the car and ran to the front door as Raven came pelting out of it; she must have been watching the door for them. That surprised him. With everything else she must have been doing, he was first on her priority list. She threw herself at him and he hugged her; swinging her around with her feet off the ground. She was in her standard attire of jeans, a checked shirt and hiking boots. No party dress for her.

Paul was hanging back. The girls were getting their bags out of the car.

"Gran, this is my brother, Paul." He grabbed his upper arm and dragged him across to meet her. "Paul, meet Raven Call, my grandmother."

"By all the Gods," she swore, "he's bigger than you!" she exclaimed.

"Only just," bristled Embry. He was standing next to Paul trying to see just how much taller Paul was than him. "An inch… maybe," he grumbled as he stood on tiptoe next to Paul.

Paul ignored him and took Raven's offered hand. He lifted it to his lips and kissed the back of it. It was an oddly romantic gesture. "I'm the sexier one," he breathed at her.

Raven stopped for a second and then she cackled with laughter. "Oh my," she said, "that you are."

"Jesus," said Rachel to Bella, "is Paul flirting with Embry's grandmother?" she was incredulous.

"She's female," commented Bella drily.

"She's _sixty_!" hissed Rachel. "It's her 60th birthday, remember?"

Bella just grinned at her.

"Gran, this is Paul's Bella and **my** Rachel," he introduced them.

The girls got kisses as well as hugs.

"I am not entirely sure how we are related," Raven was telling Paul, "but I want you to know that you are family." She gave Paul a hug too. He was looking a little out of his depth. "Call me Gran," she told him.

"I don't think I will be able to do that," Paul stated, "a beautiful name like Raven sounds much nicer than Gran."

Rachel rolled her eyes.

"I assume _you_ take after your father?" Raven told him and poked him in the chest.

He laughed, hooked her arm through his, resting her hand on his arm and placed his other hand on top of hers. "So I have been told," he said as he walked her back into the house.

"Are you staying the night?" she asked Paul.

"Only if you want me to," he said mischievously.

She laughed again, "Oh I like you," she told him. "You can sleep in a tent in the yard."

Paul laughed.

8888

Raven wasn't joking about the tents in the yard. The house was just not big enough to hold everyone and the pack boys were fine with sleeping outside.

The party was in full swing. Embry and Paul had met everyone and Embry was almost overwhelmed by all the noise and the people. He had eaten several plates of barbequed meat, fish and hotdogs with mounds of salad and vegetables. It had started as a lunch for the sake of the people with children, but looked like it would continue late into the night.

Roman and Rachel got on immediately. He supposed they were actually pretty close together in age. They had a great long conversation about politics that he backed out of quietly.

At different points during the evening, his new relatives had come over to speak to him privately and to introduce themselves. He had trouble finding much in common with his mother in any of them. They all told him how great it was that he was in their lives and how much Raven adored him. None of them seemed jealous of his new favoured status with Raven.

He took a seat and watched everybody. He noticed them all speak to Marlena as well. However, she seemed to be having trouble with the whole proceedings. Embry had no doubt; she was going to screw it up again. He was forming a theory that it was just his mother's way. He knew he was avoiding her himself and he hadn't really seen her and Raven talk much either.

Rachel stood behind him, put her arms around his neck and spoke into his ear as he was watching his mother, "She's had plenty of opportunities to make her own amends, Embry."

"I know," he sighed.

"She is just not going to let any of it go," Rachel noted. "She is the one who hid from them. She always knew where they were and she chose not to make contact… send a real letter… not just a photo of you."

"She makes herself bitter and twisted. It's awful to watch Rachel, but I can't help her anymore. I just can't do it."

"It will poison you, if you let it," Rachel said. "Imagine what she would have told you about Raven, if you had not found out for yourself."

Rachel kept a tight grip on his hand and made sure she was within touching distance for him. She was his touchstone; his own excellent example. He came to the realisation that he had started judging people by her reactions to them. She literally was a touchstone for him. If she frowned at someone, he tried to work out what she didn't like about them.

Her instincts were good. He saw one man; a cousin of some kind who the second his wife's back was turned, was propositioning other women. He remembered her complaint that she had poor choice in men; maybe it just didn't work when she got too close. Maybe it was a new skill when she was no longer looking for herself. He was absolutely sure that she was no longer looking for herself.

Raven dragged him off alone into the sewing room and they sat companionably on the bed, squeezed between the boxes of projects. The party noise was muffled in there.

She was holding his hand and looking serious.

"What's going on Gran?" he asked.

"Rachel's a nice girl," she stated.

"My one and only," he told her. "There won't be another."

"I can see that. And she feels the same doesn't she?"

"Yes, she does." He knew she did. That was the magic of an imprint. Raven could see it even if she didn't know anything about it.

"So you will probably marry her and start a family with her?"

"One day." He was confused about Raven's motives. "Rachel is one of Jake's older sisters; they're twins. She is a four years older than me. But she is the one."

"Good." There was a pause. "You are sure?"

"Absolutely."

There was silence for a minute.

"Raven?" Embry asked. Whatever she wanted to say, she was having trouble getting it out.

She sighed. "I am not sure how to tell you this…" she started.

Embry almost panicked on the spot, and it must have shown on his face.

"Don't get me wrong," she hurried to correct his misunderstanding. "It's good news."

"Oh." He really wasn't sure what to do with that statement.

"My husband, your grandfather… put away some money for you. Nobody knew until he passed away." She was holding his hand, brushing her fingers over his skin. "He stated in his will that it was to be yours; not anyone else's and **not **your mother's."

She sighed. "I guess they just never got over their fight. But he felt that you had suffered… well I don't suppose he could know that… maybe just that you had missed out… he felt that he had to do something to help you… something just for you."

She took a deep breath. Embry could hardly inhale himself. He had no idea what was coming.

"He put away about $50 a fortnight, sometimes less, sometimes more, plus any money he would have spent on birthday or Christmas presents for you. It has added up over the years. Almost twenty years and no one has touched a cent of it," she said. "All the money and the interest earnt has just gone back into the account."

Raven looked him full in the face. "Embry, it totals just over $56,000 dollars."

[AN: $50 per fortnight for 20 years at an average of 7% interest – in Washington state he has to pay inheritance tax of 24% of the excess over $40,000; that is about $3840]

Embry nearly died.

Raven continued, "It's enough for you and Rachel to set up a home, if that is what you wanted to do with it."

He was in shock.

She patted his hand.

"It's _your_ money, not the other children's. We spoke about it, they can't touch it because of his will, and truthfully, none of them want it, even if they could fight you for it. Cooper put it best, I think," she said. "He said they got their allowance money at the time and they spent it. If they had saved it, they would still have it now."

Embry still couldn't speak.

"It's his apology to you, I suppose," she said. "Please take it Embry. He never got to apologise to Marlena and I think he might have wanted to."

"Aah…," he said.

"Truthfully, when you would be turning 21 I was going to start looking for you. To give it to you… but," she shrugged, "things just happened a little faster than I had planned." She patted his shoulder. "You saved me the cost of an investigator," she chuckled. "We would never have guessed you were so close. We would have spent a goodly percentage of the money trying to find you; tracking those letters all over the country."

She got to her feet. "I had better get back to the party." Are you okay?" she asked solicitously.

He nodded but didn't speak.

"Hmmm…," she studied him for a minute. "I'll send Rachel in," she stated.

Rachel appeared within minutes.

"Embry?"

He looked at her; his face was beatific.

"Money, he left me money," he managed to say.

"Who did?"

"My grandfather."

"How much?" she asked. Trust Rachel to be eminently practical.

"Fifty six thousand dollars."

Rachel was speechless. She sat down with a thump next to him.

After a minute or so, she managed to repeat, "Fifty grand?"

"Yeah."

"There's your start up capital for the garage."

"There's our miracle."

FF_2154210_ - 31/01/2011 12:02:00 PM


	30. A pack of our own

**Chapter 30 A pack of our own**

Disclaimer: _ the characters and all recognisable situations belong to Stephenie Meyer- this is a work of fan fiction, except for the legends and histories of the Quileute that, of course, belong to them. I pay my respects to their gods._

_Thanks to BanSidhe for betaing._

**AN: I realised that other characters should be on a timetable that matches their stories**

The Call party was still going. Paul looked around. He couldn't see Bella anywhere and then he noticed her standing off to the side watching everybody.

He walked slowly towards her. She was holding herself together; her hands gripping the opposite arms across her chest. He hadn't seen that gesture in years; not since fuckward the vampire had left her. Something was upsetting her.

"Baby?" he asked gingerly, "Are you okay?"

She looked up at him and she blinked. Her eyes seemed to clear.

"What's wrong?" he asked in a low gentle voice.

"Look at them Paul," she said in a tiny voice. "That's a family."

"Yeah it is," he agreed. He looked at the Call family celebration. It looked like complete chaos. There were kids chasing each other around the table. A little boy had a bucket on his head and was turning around in circles until he fell over. Another kid was feeding cake to the dog; taking every second bite for himself. Two more were 'painting' the side of the house with paintbrushes and plain water.

The adults watched them and stopped them from doing anything too drastic. One of the chasing kids ran into Embry, bounced straight off him, and almost fell on their butt. Embry turned so fast he picked up the astonished child before it hit the ground. He placed him gently back on his feet and he caught sight of Paul watching him. He raised an eyebrow in query. Paul shrugged and shook his head.

The pack get togethers weren't quite at this stage yet, but he could imagine it five or maybe ten years in the future. They had the first pack baby; others would follow.

He could see the family resemblance in all the Calls. Embry's dimple in his chin had come from that side of the family.

"I've never had a family like that," Bella said as she nodded her head at the chaos. "The pack is the closest thing I have ever had to a real family of my own. I thought the Cullens could be my family but they all abandoned me when _he_ did."

Paul stayed silent. He had learnt that she would get out what she needed to tell him. But it worried him that she was thinking about Edward and the Cullens; that was not a normal topic of conversation for them.

"It was just me and Mum, until Phil came along. Then, they went on the road and I made a decision to move to Forks. Once I moved to Forks, it was just me and Dad." She paused for a minute, as if she was thinking very hard. Paul waited.

"But I think I want it all," said Bella in that tiny voice. It was as if she thought if she didn't say it very loud, she could take it back.

His heart lurched in his chest. He could not say anything. He looked at her.

"I never knew it," she admitted. "I am an only child… you are an only child… well now you know have a half brother… and I can see the way the two of you look at each other differently… you're family now, the two of you… family…"

He reached out and rubbed her shoulders, he needed to touch her. Suddenly he realised what had made her think like this. "Nathan Uley," he said quietly.

"Yeah," she breathed out heavily. "He was so tiny and so perfect… and I had never thought about it before… but when I held him… I wanted to see what our babies would look like… I wanted to see you hold _our_ child, the way Sam held his." She looked up at him; she looked terrified.

"Why does it frighten you so badly?" he asked. He needed to know the answer to that one.

"They are so out of my experience… I never even babysat cousins, neighbours, or anything… I don't know anything about babies," she confessed.

"I am pretty sure you could read a book or two on them," he teased her gently. "You'd have at least nine months warning before it actually arrived."

She managed a small smile at him.

"I want your babies Paul," she told him. "The work you do is so dangerous, if something ever happened to you, I would still have a little piece of you. If that vampire girl had just scratched you with a tooth..." she couldn't finish the sentence.

He reached for her face, placing his palms on her cheeks, and he kissed her. "You can have anything you want, Baby," he reassured her. He folded her in against his chest and rocked her gently. "It terrifies me too," he admitted. "What if I am like my father?" he blurted out. He had never acknowledged that as an issue before.

"You're not anything like your father. Besides all you have to do is_ not _be him and you would be the best dad in the world."

"Usually people don't want kids in a dangerous profession; you always did think differently Bella. It's one of the reasons why I adore you."

He hugged her.

They stood there holding each other for a few minutes.

"So you want it all?" he checked, "the babies, the ring, the white picket fence…"

"Maybe not in that order," she chuckled.

"Okay," he agreed.

"Bags Jake as my best man," she said quickly, muffled against his chest.

"Shit… Fine," he huffed, "I'll have Sam then."

They just stood there wrapped up in each other.

"Are we really going to do this?" Bella asked. The tiny voice was back.

"Only if you want to," he was honest with her. "I am happy with what we have. I feel like everything in my life is working out, but if you want to go that extra step, I'll be right there with you, Baby. You know I will." He held her face and looked into her eyes. "If you are really sure that it is what you want."

She gave a tiny nod.

He folded her up against him again. "So how many babies do you want?"

"Can't have just one…"

"That wouldn't be right…"

"Two is no good…

"Might need a spare…"

"Just in case..."

"Three will just fight…"

"The middle child thing…"

"So four then…"

"Four," she agreed.

"Wow, a little pack of our own." He leered at her, "Can we start practicing now?"

She laughed.

Embry approached; he had been watching them and he was a little concerned about Bella. "Are you guys okay?"

"Yes, thanks Embry. Just making life changing decisions," said Bella.

"Really?" he didn't ask, but he was dying to do so.

"I think it's time I made an honest woman of Bella, doncha think Embry?" Paul said. "I mean she is living in sin… that shit is just not good for the soul…"

Embry assumed he was joking but he wasn't sure which part he was joking about. "So…?" he queried.

"We are going to get married, aren't we Bella?"

"Yes." She frowned at Paul. "But you haven't asked me properly," she pointed out.

"Oh okay," Paul turned towards her and he looked really serious. "Hey Bells, wanna get married?" he asked her.

"That's it?"

"Jeez woman… what do you want? You've already got my heart and my body … I'm working on two minutes notice here…" he blustered.

"Sure, sure Paul, I'll marry you."

"Excellent," he grinned at her.

"This is all your fault," she told him.

"No way… this one is all your own making… I take no responsibility for this one." It was the first time he had ever disagreed with her on that one.

He kissed her soundly.

Embry wandered off to give them some privacy.

"Bella, can I ask why you jumped me so fast in the kitchen the other day?" Paul asked her.

"When?"

Paul snorted. She did jump him in the kitchen a lot; it was easy for her to be confused about which one he was talking about.

"When you wouldn't let me wash the timber dust off."

"Oh… that time…" She looked at the ground.

"Hmm?"

She wrung her hands together; another nervous gesture he had not seen for a while. She was really pushing her own boundaries at the moment, he suspected. He snugged her in closer to him and kissed her on the neck.

"Do you remember the first time I knocked on your door?" she asked quietly.

[AN: story - 'What was she doing?' chapter 1]

"Heck yeah; I'll never forget it." The power of an imprint; she had come to him even though he had never given her a single clue that he had imprinted on her months earlier.

"I remember thinking that you had a natural odour. I thought that you smelt like cedar and sweat… you know when you were… pressed up behind me…" her voice trailed off. She could not bring herself to say what he was doing when he was pressed up behind her; at least not in a yard full of small children.

"Ah hah," he said as if he understood now, "and there I was, standing in the kitchen smelling of cedar…"

"And sweat," she finished for him.

He grinned at her. "You know what else?" he asked.

She shook her head.

"If we get married, we will_ finally _have worked our way through all seven volumes of the Kama Sutra; acquisition of a wife was the last one."

She laughed. She hugged him as hard as she could, and she thanked the wolf gods for giving her this man who was so utterly perfect for her.

FF_2154210_ - 1/02/2011 11:58:00 AM


	31. Purple furry ones

**Chapter 31 Purple furry ones**

Disclaimer: _ the characters and all recognisable situations belong to Stephenie Meyer- this is a work of fan fiction, except for the legends and histories of the Quileute that, of course, belong to them. I pay my respects to their gods._

_Thanks to BanSidhe for betaing._

**AN: pointless lemon warning – remember children, safe sex always**

Embry was naked again. He didn't mind. Rachel still looked at him with that look like he was the best Christmas present she had ever seen; you know that rare one that when you got the wrapping off, the present still didn't disappoint. He loved seeing that look on her face.

His hands were cuffed together; she had quasi alpha ordered him to hold his hands out and not move, and it was clicking shut before he could object. She had finally worked out recently that she could alpha order him. As far as he knew, she was yet to try it on any other wolf. He couldn't even remember what it was now, that had given her the final piece of that puzzle. She didn't abuse it, but it had certainly stopped him arguing about these ridiculous cuffs.

The cuffs allowed his wrists to get about six inches apart. He would never have normally agreed to these cuffs mostly because they were covered in long purple fur; it was embarrassing.

"Did it have to be purple fur, Rachel?"

"Oh come on… do you think black would be any better… there was a set in hot pink, so you should be thankful… they are so cute… and don't you go breaking them," she told him seriously. "They are a loaner from the shop."

"What are the rules?" he asked resignedly. He had learnt that there were rules too.

"No touching until I say so," she told him.

He almost sighed. "How long will this take? I've got a pack meeting later."

She looked a little peeved at that comment. "I'll make it worth your while Embry." She trailed a fingernail down his skin. It left a trail of goose bumps behind. Didn't she always, he thought.

He put his cuffed arms above his head and did an exaggerated stretch, knowing that she was watching him avidly. He gave her a smirk. "Oh I am sure that you will." He pointed at her with his chin, "Why are you still dressed?"

"Oops, my bad," she said and she started to undress. He watched her eagerly and she knew it too. His whole body was tense now.

"Lay on the bed on your back," she instructed. He did so. She didn't need to alpha ordering him now, he was playing the game. She studied him and then she told him to shuffle down a little, until his feet were hanging off the end. She put a pillow under his head. She had a look on her face like the one a woman gets when she is arranging flowers. She tilted her head to the side and checked it was to her liking.

She made a happy little noise like 'humph'; pleased with her arrangement.

She stood at the end of the bed and he lifted his head to watch her. She reached out and stroked up the sole of his foot. He jolted. "Hey, that tickles," he complained.

She had asked him to take a shower earlier and now he knew why. She ran her tongue up the sole of his foot. He had to try really hard not to accidently kick her. Then she sucked on his toes, running her tongue between them.

Next, she started up his legs rubbing her hair and her face all over him. It was like silk on his skin. He moaned as she dragged her hair across his aching cock. She made her way up the bed excruciatingly slowly licking, nibbling and tonguing at him. She went right past his groin.

In his effort to control himself, he had reached up and gripped the headboard with his cuffed hands. She nibbled at his nipples and tongued up his neck. She kissed him on the lips and he uttered what sounded distinctly like a groan of disappointment when she left his mouth.

She was kneeling either side of his chest now. She was looking down at him with a predatory gleam of her own.

"You look good enough to eat," she told him. She tilted her head and studied him. "Do I look good enough to eat?" she asked.

"Always," he answered.

"Excellent."

She flipped herself around so that she faced his feet. She shuffled backwards so that her feet slid up the side of his shoulders and her pubic region was over his face. His arms were still over his head. He knew what she wanted now and why she had put the pillow under his head.

"You can touch me now," she told him.

He was eager to look after her. She smelt fabulous to him, he raised his face and took one long lick right along the length of her, and then he settled in for a real feed. She put her hand down onto his body to support herself and she raised and lowered her body against him. She ground herself onto his face. He gave her an Eskimo kiss with his nose rubbing at her clitoris and she shuddered above him.

"Ugh… yes," she hissed. "Oh… yes… Embry," she moaned as she came.

She leant forward a little and it changed the angle. "Keep going," she told him. Her hands now ran up and down his torso. She reached right down to his thighs and dragged her nails up his skin and then she reached for his cock.

She slid her mouth around the tip and he nearly lost it. He loved watching her give him head but he couldn't see her now. He lowered his arms and opened his elbows wide to hold her at her thighs. He was dying to slide his fingers into her but the cuffs meant he had to be more imaginative. He stabbed into her centre with his tongue and she moaned appreciatively.

She was working her mouth around his hard cock. Sliding him in and out as her head bobbed above him. It felt so different because she was the opposite way around; he felt upside down in her mouth. She managed to get him all the way in and she bit gently at the base of him. He twitched and grunted into her at the feel of her teeth on him. She pulled back and let him fall out of her mouth. She blew on him and nibbled up the sides and around the edge of the glans before taking him back into her mouth.

He sucked at her clitoris and she made a noise of her own. Her hand reached under him to roll his balls and stroke at his perineum. He could feel them tightening under her ceaseless ministrations. There was no way he could warn her he was going to come, he had a mouthful.

She deep throated him again and then pulled her head back. A strong breath out around him, and then she sucked back hard. Before he lost it, he latched onto her clitoris, flicked across it with his tongue, and felt his hips lift into her mouth as he came hard. He was still involuntarily thrusting into her mouth as he felt a rush of wetness onto his face as she climaxed above him. She groaned and the vibration went through his cock triggering off a moan of his own into her; like a cycle of pleasure.

He felt himself slip from her mouth and he lifted his arms again so that she could climb off him. She threw herself onto the bed alongside him, her feet next to his head. He sat up and wiped down his face with his hands. He looked at her face resting on his thigh as she watched him. He held his arms out to her, and raised his eyebrows.

She grinned.

"You want out? Okay, I suppose two orgasms is a pretty good effort."

"I could give you another but you'd have to un-cuff me first," he offered wriggling his fingers. "Didn't get to use my fingers." He wriggled them again to make his point.

"I'll take that bet!" she said, reaching for the keys on the side table.

She un-cuffed him and lay back against the pillows. "Do your worst, lover," she encouraged him as he crawled towards her. She jolted, moaned and her head dropped back as he slid his fingers into her saturated opening.

He had completely forgotten about the pack meeting.

FF_2154210_ - 2/02/2011 12:03:00 PM


	32. Badly timed memories

**Chapter 32 Badly timed memories**

Disclaimer: _ the characters and all recognisable situations belong to Stephenie Meyer- this is a work of fan fiction, except for the legends and histories of the Quileute that, of course, belong to them. I pay my respects to their gods._

_Thanks to BanSidhe for betaing._

Embry was going to be in sooo much trouble. He was in trouble for leaving Rachel virtually mid act. He was going to have to do a lot of work to make up for that! He would be literally crawling for her for the next few weeks. Not that it wouldn't be fun. Rachel had so many ways to make that stuff fun.

But right now, his main priority was dealing with his pissed off Alpha.

His Alpha had not been happy for a while now. Basically, since he imprinted on his sister.

Jake got especially upset with Embry for remembering having sex with Rachel while Jake was phased. There wasn't that much Embry could do about it. For one, they had a lot of sex. For two, it was usually pretty damn memorable.

And for three; well for fuck's sake, no one else had to keep a lid on their thoughts any more. Paul had managed it all that time he was fucking Bella and Embry did _not_ know how he had done it. Maybe he should ask him.

Jake hated giving Alpha orders unless they were strictly necessary but Embry was starting to think that he ought to ask Jake to Alpha order him not to think about having sex with Rachel while Jake was phased. That ought to cover it.

And now he was late for a full pack meeting. Fuck, fuckity fuck fuck.

He didn't feel any better. Damn that usually worked.

Embry slunk into the pack meeting as quietly and carefully as he could. But he blew it. Jake noticed him slink in at the back. They were all still human at the minute. He must have missed the formal announcements. He would have to ask Quil if it was anything important; not that Quil usually took much notice.

"Embry you are late… **again**," snarled Jake. His lip lifted exactly as it did when he was phased and in dominant status.

"Yeah… sorry." What the fuck was he going to say? Your sister handcuffed with a fabulous pair of purple furry handcuffs until I ate her out properly. And I couldn't break them because they were a loaner from the sex shop where she works. Yeah like that'll work. Maybe he should have shown up, still wearing them. That might shut Jake up.

Shit, he was **so** going to get it… At least he had remembered he had a pack meeting in time, but Rachel was less than pleased at the speed with which he had departed… and his timing. He supposed she had a right to be pissed; they were not even finished. He didn't even take time for a shower.

Paul sniffed at him and gave him a knowing smirk.

"Everybody phase," ordered Jake.

There was a shuffling of bodies as clothes were removed and a few started phasing. Embry was still standing there. There was no way he could get out of this. And the more he tried **not** to think about what he and Rachel had just done; the more it was front and centre in his mind.

"Embry phase!" Jake ordered him. Fuck the alpha timbre. Jake was mightily pissed off. He had already started to comply without conscious thought.

With a sinking sensation in his gut, Embry phased.

He sank into the cacophony of thoughts that was a whole pack meeting. Everyone's minds were flashing through recent stuff. Embry was concentrating so hard on anything… anything at all, as he watched Jake phase. A stray thought crossed his mind that Jake and Rachel really looked alike… and then….

The afternoon activities all came flashing into his mind.

There was dead silence for a minute.

Then wolf Paul made an odd barking noise that sounded remarkably like his real laugh. He hit the ground and rolled; he was clearly laughing so hard.

_Jake: Jesus Christ__,__ Embry! Purple furry handcuffs?_

_Embry: You don't understand Jake__…__ she can do your voice. _He was begging Jake.

_Jake: __**What**__?_

_Embry: The alpha voice. She can half do it. And I know it is her and not you… but she tells me to do something in that tone of voice and I am halfway there before my brain points out it is Rachel …not you._

_Jake: Do __**not**__ be ridiculous…_

_Paul: __your face… Jake your face (laughs hysterically) – even in wolf form you look stunned…_

_Quil:__** and **__she is__ a screamer… I mean I can hear her from my place,…__ my imprint might have claws and a tail… but Embry's has handcuffs…and whips… and _

_Jake: __Not another word Ateara__…__ MAN… it's my __**sister!**_

_Seth: oh yeah right… poor Jake… I had to put up with that week long_ _fuckfest from you and Leah and no one has any sympathy for Seth… it's__** my**__ sister… I tried that… get over it Seth… that's what__** I **__was__ told…she's with the Alpha now …you just have to deal with it…and I live with you and you guys are just so damn noisy…and the smell?…I hate seeing my sister's 'O' face… it's just wrong…_

_**Jake: oh for fuck's sake!**_

_Paul: purple fur…(still laughing) … what else is she going to try out on you? Please tell me she is going to make you wear some of the dress up stuff…'cause I would buy tickets to that show…_

_Quil: yeah me too …bondage brigade… strap on dildos _

_Paul: leather masks…_

_Quil: red riding hood outfits…imagine the wolf in the hood …_

Jake sighed heavily.

_Jake: Embry… phase back… go home… you are useless to me like this… and you are distracting the whole pack_

_Embry: (eagerly) really? I can go home? __'cause__ we didn't get to finish__…Rachel was kind of pissed with me…_

_Jake: __Taha Aki__ save me from imprinted wolves__. _

_Brady: do you have another sister Jake?_

_Collin: yeah…when do we get to imprint? Huh? It sounds like fun_

_**Jake: **__**I**__** will bite you! I will tear your fucking ears off!**_

Embry phased back, threw his cut-offs on and ran home. Didn't need to tell him twice.

[AN: wolves discipline each other by biting the ears]

* * *

**Too strong**

Embry lay in the circle of Rachel's arms; his head between her breasts. He was drawing on her arm with his finger. He glanced up at her face; her eyes were closed and her heart rate was steady and her breathing slow; she was almost asleep.

"You are so fragile." He was touching her with a fingertip as if she was made of spun glass and he thought she might shatter under his contact.

"I have been called a lot of things in my time, but fragile is not one of them," she muttered.

"I have to be so careful of you Rachel."

"What do you mean?"

"You've seen how strong we are, how fast we are."

"Yes. So?"

"What if I lost control during sex? What if I grabbed your arm hard enough to break a bone? What if I thrust into you using all the strength of my legs?"

"Oh yeah, I see what you mean. So you never really let go? That's kind of sad."

"I'd probably snap your pelvis. It's another advantage for Jake and Leah; they don't have to be careful with each other."

"Wow. I don't think I had ever thought about it. It must be really hard to have to keep yourself under control all the time; never really let go."

"You're worth it," he told her intently.

She gave him a very calculating glance. "So when I cuff you, you are co-operating aren't you? You could probably break out of those things easily enough."

He grinned at her, "Yeah or break the headboard apart. Think of it as part of the game."

"It's a wonder the pack hasn't broken more beds," she muttered. She tousled his hair, "So when I tell you 'harder' you just ignore me, huh?"

"I do **not** ignore you," he sounded offended. "I know how much you can take. At least it tells me_ how_ you want it."

"Humph," she said, "so if I ever say something like 'fuck me to death' just ignore me then, okay?"

He chuckled. "Self interest will make sure I never do that," he assured her.

"Taha Aki had three wives. She might have been his third imprint, right? Maybe you could get another one?"

His head lifted so suddenly and his eyes looked tortured.

She just grabbed him. "Fuck, I am an idiot, Embry. I was only joking. Please don't look like that. I am not going anywhere. Breathe Embry, breathe." She wrapped her arms around him. "I am not going anywhere," she repeated. She could feel his heart pounding against her chest; just the thought of her not being around was giving him a panic attack. "I'm here," she comforted him.

She wondered exactly how many wolves survived the death of their imprints.

FF_2154210_ - 2/02/2011 04:00:00 PM


	33. Farts and fights

**Chapter 33 Farts and fights**

Disclaimer: _ the characters and all recognisable situations belong to Stephenie Meyer- this is a work of fan fiction, except for the legends and histories of the Quileute that, of course, belong to them. I pay my respects to their gods._

_Thanks to BanSidhe for betaing._

**AN: I realised that I had not dealt with Embry farting- remember Paul said he could fart the national anthem in WWHD – so this is just a bit of silliness**

Embry and Rachel were lying in her little single bed in the Black house. Jake's old room could not fit a bed any larger and sharing it with a 6ft 3 inch man was all kinds of uncomfortable. But she really didn't have a lot of choice, especially if they wanted a break from the ugly silent treatment his mother had sunk to now. As she rolled over, for yet another time, her elbow struck Embry in the stomach and he let loose with a fart.

"Jesus God," she swore, "did you eat a skunk on patrol or something? Oh my god, that is rank, Embry." She waved her hand in front of her face to drive the evil odour away.

"Sorry Rachel," he apologised.

"I'd light a match but I'm frightened the house would explode. What on earth **did** you eat while you were at Paul's?"

"Pizza, that's all, nothing different to anyone else, I swear."

"Hmmm that's it! Wolves shouldn't consume dairy products. You must be dairy intolerant. Do you find yourself windier after eating cheese?"

"What?" he sounded incredulous.

"Do you?"

"I don't know… I've never thought about it."

"Well you should keep a food diary."

"I am NOT keeping a food diary," he sounded determined.

"We'll just ban you from eating dairy; so no pizza, milk or ice cream for you then. That's easy," she stated.

"No," he begged. "That's like," he struggled for a word, "… torture!"

"Coming from a man who wears handcuffs frequently," she laughed.

"Pfft," he did not sound pleased. "I am NOT going to be known as Embry the dairy free wolf."

* * *

**Little brothers are soooo irritating**

Rachel had been having a quiet cup of coffee in the kitchen when Jake had come over to speak to her. She had a bad feeling about this; he had sounded so formal on the phone. Jesus, he had arranged it on the phone. If that didn't tell her something was up, nothing would.

Sue had taken Billy to an early medical appointment, so neither of them was around.

Embry was sound asleep and she had left him there without disturbing him.

She was wearing a robe she had grabbed when she heard Jake was coming over. She looked at her little brother and wondered what he was stressing about now. Embry had told her all about his disastrous pack meeting. Sent home in disgrace, not that she cared.

Jake stood in the kitchen of the Black house, facing down his sister as she sat at the table. He was so sure of his ground; he was the Alpha. He could do this.

He looked down at her from his extreme height. "You have to give up the freaky sex with Embry, Rachel," he said with authority.

"Excuse me?" Rachel rose to her feet and stood on the other side of the kitchen table. "Are you fucking kidding me?" she asked in a low voice.

Jake should have been scared of that, but he had forgotten how his big sisters had always had his measure.

"Rachel, you have to stop… it is upsetting the whole pack…" he rationalised. "I had to send him home from the last pack meeting because he was thinking about purple furry handcuffs! No one could function with him there."

"Fuck you, Jacob," she was vehement. "I do not give a fuck **who** you think you are and what authority you think you have, but you do NOT tell me how to have sex. And the fact that you even **think** you have the authority, shows just how big headed you have become."

Jake was floored. His mouth hung open.

"I do not interfere in your sex life…," she continued.

"Well, that's different…," he interrupted.

"Is it?" she arched an eyebrow. She leant forward and deliberately tapped the kitchen table between them.

His heart almost stopped in his chest. Please, please let Leah not have told her about them fucking on the kitchen table, he prayed.

[Chapter 21 of 'where's my happy ever after?']

"Fucking your girl on the kitchen table, Jake?"

Jake's eyes closed slowly; man, he was in so much trouble.

Rachel still radiated fury but it was colder now. He was so going to get his ass kicked. She tightened her robe around her as if she was readying for a fight.

"At least I keep our antics to the bedroom. Did you even clean it before anybody else ate off it, Jacob?"

He frowned, he honestly couldn't remember if they did… maybe not…

"Embry is my imprint and he is hard wired to make me happy! And guess what, Jacob? Vanilla sex does not make me happy. You boys may share a pack mind, but girls talk. In fact, we probably over share. Did you forget that? Did you forget that your alpha order to your mate to not discuss stuff, only prohibited her from thinking about it phased, not from telling her friend when she was human? Hmmm? Did you miss a bit there?"

Oh, fuck! If Leah had told her anything about their wolf mating, he could not do much about it now.

"Rachel, please…" he blustered.

"Stay out of my bed, Jacob," she threatened him. "You are way out of your jurisdiction here. The sex is not even _that _freaky. If I had him chained to a wall, bleeding out and stuck with blades until he looked like a fucking porcupine, you might have a point, but what we do, does not injure him at all. I am actually taking it easy on him. I am not flogging the skin off his back. A pair of purple furry handcuffs is not going to kill him. Jesus, sticking him full of blades wouldn't kill him! He heals so fast. The only reason you are even here is that you are my brother and it embarrasses **you**; it has nothing to do with what everyone else in the pack may be doing in _their _bedrooms. This is NOT pack business. This is personal. So I do not give a fuck how embarrassed you are; you can just get over it!"

Jake opened his mouth, but nothing came out.

Rachel continued, "Find a solution that works for you, because I will **not** be changing my behaviour. If you want to Alpha order him not to think about sex with me while you are phased, you can do that. But you can butt right out of my personal life.** I am not pack**." She was blazing with fury now.

Jake just frowned at her; but he had no response.

"Get out of my sight," she said.

He turned and left, if he were in wolf form, his tail would have been between his legs.

Rachel's hands were shaking a little. She sank gratefully into a chair.

"You okay?" she heard.

She looked up. Embry was standing in the hall.

She sighed. "My little brother can be an ass hat sometimes."

"He was so uptight, he didn't even realise I was here." He jerked his head. "I heard it from the bedroom."

"And you didn't rush to my rescue?" she asked mischievously.

"Hell no, you were doing fine on your own." He paused, "And you were right; it's not pack business. The Alpha order would work for him and Paul and Quil wouldn't miss any of the gory details." He shrugged, "Not that it would stop them replaying the gorier bits for him later." He made his way into the kitchen and poured himself a coffee. He kissed the top of her head and sat next to her. He reached for her hand and rubbed his thumb across her knuckles.

"You don't hurt me," he told her. He was concerned she might be worried about that.

"I know. I don't think I could now," she admitted. She smiled at him. "Leah told me you would jump off a cliff for me."

"Absolutely," there was no hesitation. "I would die for you Rachel." He meant it.

She put her arms around his neck and he scooped her up and pulled her onto his lap. She clung to him. "Please don't die, Embry," she begged him.

"I wasn't planning on it," he reassured her.

He rocked her gently on his lap. He knew Jake's attack had upset her more than she had let Jake know. If he wasn't so uptight himself, he would have picked up her increased heart rate and respiration levels.

"_We've_ never done it on the table," he said.

"See, we are just reasonable in comparison," she chuckled. "Hardly freaky at all."

"Billy thinks Jake may never imprint. Jake does not understand imprinting. He thinks he understands it Rachel, but he may be able to see into our heads, but he can't see into our hearts."

FF_2154210_ - 4/02/2011 12:03:00 PM


	34. ABC garage

**Chapter 34 ABC garage**

Disclaimer: _ the characters and all recognisable situations belong to Stephenie Meyer- this is a work of fan fiction, except for the legends and histories of the Quileute that, of course, belong to them. I pay my respects to their gods._

_Thanks to BanSidhe for betaing._

Embry and Quil were waiting for Jake to make an appearance.

"Embry dude, I …" Quil stopped speaking.

Embry glanced at his friend and frowned; it wasn't like Quil to be lost for words. "What's up Quil?"

He kicked at the ground with his foot. "You were right…"

"I was? About what?"

"About Pititchu… you picked up that she was different… she wasn't human… and I wouldn't let you tell me… you are my friend and I wouldn't listen to you…"

Embry blinked. "Quil… are you apologizing?"

"Yeah… one time offer… take it or leave it," Quil grinned at him.

"Thanks." Embry punched him in the shoulder.

"Ouch."

"And you were right too, Quil," Embry added, "I **was** jealous… just a little but," he hastened to add at the look on Quil's face when he thought Embry might have wanted his imprint. "Now I have Rachel, I understand much better… imprinting is pretty strong stuff."

"Don't I know it," agreed Quil.

"Fuck me, I stood up to my Alpha," Embry reminded him. "Stood between wolf him and Rachel. Speaking of... here he comes."

"I thought he was going to get rid of the clown car," Quil commented as they watched Jake climb out of the little red Rabbit.

"He could cut a sun roof and stick his head out the top," Embry suggested.

They both laughed.

Jake sauntered over to them.

"This is the spot," he said.

Jake, Embry and Quil looked at 'the spot'.

It was literally on the edge of the main road and the border into the native land. The boundary line the Cullens were never allowed to cross.

Jake spoke, "So the council has agreed to our proposal. The have given us permission to erect a structure here. We can build a garage on this spot."

Embry spoke, "It's close enough to Forks for people to bring their vehicles here, while still being convenient for the people in La Push."

"We can always run out and collect vehicles, if people can't get them here anyway," said Quil. He meant literally 'run' to get them.

"On native land we only pay federal taxes, not state or regional," pointed out Jake. "So that cuts some costs down for us."

"Some people from Forks bring their vehicles to Jake on the rez, so it's actually closer for them," said Quil.

"Closer to Leah at work, too," said Jake. The others gave him a knowing look.

"Maybe we could service the police vehicles," suggested Quil. He shrugged, "Wouldn't hurt to ask."

"Rachel advises to start small and low tech. We need to save our money," Embry added. "We are not purchasing the land or buying into an existing business, so all those costs are gone. We are not buying the name, or the current client list. We can't get a loan so we will have to be really frugal. At least until we have proved ourselves. If we survive the first year, we may be able to get a bank loan then. That will help for future expansion. The costing and the books will have to be accurate. And no freebies for mates," he reminded them.

"We don't need a car lift initially; we can dig a pit and concrete it in." Jake was thinking aloud. "Just drive the cars onto it. As long as we can get access under the vehicles. If we build a metal tripod or a solid I-beam over the top, we are strong enough to lift an engine out on our own with a chain and a winch. I do it by myself now," Jake shrugged. "If we specialise in older models, we don't have to worry about the computer stuff."

"Keep our money for parts, any extra tools and start-up costs. Rachel has done a spreadsheet or something. She has it all worked out. She even came up with a name." Embry glanced at the others. "She suggested 'ABC garage'," he watched their reaction.

"Cute," said Jake, "we'd be in the front of the phone book."

"Oh," said Quil, "I get it, Ateara, Black and Call; ABC."

There was a pause.

"It gets my vote," said Quil.

"Only because your name is first," pointed out Jake.

Embry rolled his eyes. He knew they would fight about that. He hoped his grandfather would be pleased to see his name on a garage. It was his money after all.

"Sam and Paul will help us build a structure. We would need to lay a slab, we can't work in the wet without one. Some benches and lockable metal boxes for tools. A box structure building would be the cheapest; nothing fancy," Jake was thinking aloud again. "We'll need some basic plumbing; a bathroom and a shower so we can clean up before we go home or go out from here."

"Phone connection and electricity," from Embry, "A computer for bookings and printing bills and receipts."

"People might have stuff they can donate," suggested Jake, "you never know until you ask. Seth is good with tech stuff; he could tweak an old computer for us."

"Some basic furniture, just in case. A lounge for clients…," said Embry.

"And naps," added Quil. "It will have to be a nice long lounge so we can stretch out."

Jake gave him a look.

"Whoa," said Quil, "it'll be like a La Push community project. Our own little barn raising."

"We need to clear some space to park vehicles and lay some gravel or river sand."

"What about security? We can't afford to lose anything."

"We can add it to the patrol route," suggested Jake.

Quil snorted. "And we will put up a sign: 'trespassers will be hunted down and eaten.'"

"Macked on like a fucking chew toy," laughed Jake.

"Yeah, 'no vampires past this point'," added Embry.

They stood there imagining their future.

"Are you sure this is what you want to do with your money?" asked Quil. It worried him. It was such a large amount. He could not get that Embry wanted to share it with them.

"I couldn't imagine anything better to do with it." Embry looked at him. "You can think of it as a loan, if it makes you feel better?" he suggested.

Quil cackled and ignored him.

"What skills were you bringing again, Quil?" asked Jake mischievously.

"Enforcement, Baby," Quil said smacking his fist into the other palm. "Debt collection." He said it with relish. "Comedic relief?" he tried. "Tow truck driver?" He surprised himself with that suggestion.

"Yeah," agreed Jake. "That's a great idea! We could find one at the wreckers and do it up."

"Maybe next year," suggested Embry before they spent_ all _his money.

"Fuel," stated Jake. "We could expand and maybe sell fuel…"

"And a diner…" from Quil.

"No way! You would eat **all** the profits," Embry argued.

"Bella could bake and sell cakes and cookies," said Quil, "and Emily's muffins. As long as she didn't make_ us_ pay for them."

"In the future," argued Embry. He was trying to slow them down, but all their imaginations raced away to the future.

There was a pregnant silence.

"Future," Jake breathed. They had a plan; a future. And it was all theirs. The thought just blew them away; they had imagined it in the past, but now it was right in front of them. They could almost touch it.

"Hey," suggested Embry, "could it be bigger or maybe a two storey structure?"

"Easier to make it bigger; cheaper to stick to one level. There's plenty of room out here. Why?" asked Jake.

"I am sick of my mother; I don't understand the way she thinks or the way she has behaved in the past. The more I find out, the less I want to be with her… you know?"

The others just nodded. They didn't understand her either.

"She doesn't like Rachel. She's doing that 'hard to get along with' shit again." Embry paused. "Roman said he left home before his father could throw him out. I reckon I might take a leaf out of his book. I do **not** want to live with her any more."

He looked around the site. "So maybe Rachel and I could live out here."

"Have you asked her?" Jake checked.

"Not yet," admitted Embry, "but I know how to convince her." He grinned at the others.

"It's your money," said Quil.

"We didn't ask the council about it being a residence, but we can check…" Jake said.

"Security," argued Quil, "clearly the premises would be far more secure if someone could live out here." He was practising for what they could tell the council.

"Towing," suggested Jake, "**if** we had a tow truck and offered a towing service, you would need a 24 hour contact number for it. I mean you just couldn't leave a girl in a broken down car by the side of the road…"

"…alone..."

"…in the rain…"

"…with the vampires…"

"…they'll go for it," pointed out Jake.

"One more advantage," pointed out Quil, "I won't be able to hear Rachel scream out here." Jake smacked him up the back of the head.

FF_2154210_ - 5/02/2011 12:13:00 PM


	35. Plans and puppies

**Chapter 35 plans and puppies**

Disclaimer: _ the characters and all recognisable situations belong to Stephenie Meyer- this is a work of fan fiction, except for the legends and histories of the Quileute that, of course, belong to them. I pay my respects to their gods._

_Thanks to BanSidhe for betaing._

Embry laid out his plan for Rachel. An apartment for them both, behind the garage. The Tribal council had agreed to both proposals, just as the boys had suspected they would.

"Embry are you asking me to live with you… in a garage?" she asked.

He thought about it. "Yes, is the problem the garage, the living with or the me bit?"

She looked at him.

"I don't know. It's all pretty quick and that scares me a little. I know with this imprint shit that we are 'it' for each other and that there is not a lot of point to delaying the inevitable. But I have never had a relationship before that got this serious, this quickly… and that scares me a little."

He watched her.

She continued, "I can see why you want to get away from your mother. She has not been very understanding about this whole situation. She is your mother, she is supposed to be your biggest supporter, and she is just… not. Obviously, I can see why you would want to live with me…I mean I just love going to sleep with you and then waking up with you next to me and I am sure you feel the same. Even if you are on patrol… to know that you will crawl into bed with me at some point… I just sleep better if I know that you will be coming home."

He reached out a hand and brushed his fingers just above the surface of her arm, stroking along the hairs on her arm.

She inhaled deeply. She had real trouble thinking clearly whenever Embry touched her. All she was thinking now, was how fast she could get him out of his clothes. She had thought that the initial endlessly physical stage of their relationship would ease off with time; but it hadn't. That alone, had surprised her. She had never had that in a previous relationship before either. Most guys were running screaming from her by now. But not Embry. It didn't seem to matter what level she lifted their relationship to, he was right there with her.

He had his sad puppy look. She could not resist the sad puppy look. She started to turn her body towards him.

"I admit that it is not very comfortable living in Jake's old room. I have no idea how he put up with it for so long. It must be hot in summer and bloody freezing in winter… the window doesn't even shut properly."

He rubbed her arm a little more firmly now.

"Dad will be upset, he wanted me to stay with him, but if I am on the reservation I am still close, just not in the same house. That's better then Rebecca; she is still in Hawaii and she rarely calls let alone visits."

She thought some more. "It will take some months to get all this together… so Dad will have some time to adjust to the idea, but he has supported us, right from the start. He will still have Sue living with him to help with the daily nursing stuff and I would only be five minutes away in an emergency. So, I don't have to worry about _him_ being looked after properly. And Jake and Leah are only five minutes away for him too."

Embry was trailing his fingers down her arm. She shut her eyes and_ felt_ him.

"I don't want to leave La Push now, I have a job and a plan for the future and I have a future with you. If we lived behind the garage, I would be closer to Forks, so that makes it easier for me to get to work." She stopped. "Jeez, what am I a fucking sock puppet?"

He raised an eyebrow.

"I talk and your words come out of my mouth. Have you got your hand up the back of my shirt?"

He just smiled at her and said nothing.

"I know you want this… I know I am your one and only… and I know it is something we would get around to eventually…" She had to touch him. She reached out and slipped her hand in the neck of his shirt, tracing his collar bone. Shirt. Why was he wearing a shirt? He must have been nervous and had got dressed up to ask her this. Silly boy. Naked would have been better. As if he had heard her thoughts, he started unbuttoning his shirt. Her hand followed; touching his skin as it was exposed to her sight.

"It will only be a small apartment, but we don't need a lot of room right now… just the basics… like a bed… we probably only need a bed… and a fridge for food for you."

He had the shirt open now and he flexed to slide it off his shoulders. She helped. She was inching herself closer to him. He was still watching her. The shirt hit the floor.

"Fuck Embry, I lose twenty IQ points for each piece of clothing you take off," she told him.

He grinned. He knew that.

"We could save all our money and later, when we need more room we could move out. Leave the apartment to Seth or somebody who works at the garage assuming it has expanded by then. He can't live with Jake and Leah forever… it's already making him crazy. Let him finish school first." She had both hands on the skin of his chest. "We will have to build a new place… a bigger place… more bedrooms… with a yard… a porch swing … a cubby house… that kind of thing," she continued.

He froze.

She noticed.

"Isn't that what you want? Eventually?" she asked him. She sounded just the littlest bit unsure of herself.

His hands reached for her face and his eyes just melted.

She realised she hadn't actually given him an answer about the garage.

"Yes, Embry. I want to live with you. I want to live with your wherever you want to live, even if it is a tiny apartment behind a garage. It will be with **you** and that is all that I want."

He kissed her.

* * *

**Puppy pile**

All the wolves were puppy-piled on the floor at Paul and Bella's having a movie marathon. Jake would not let them watch Underworld again; maybe ever. So they were going for the classics; American werewolf in London was up first.

Rachel and Leah were giggling in each other's ears in the corner. Rachel got up and came over to sit in Embry's lap; he shuffled around to make room for her and everyone else shifted and moved as a result.

"Jeez Rachel, make up your mind where you want to sit will you?" grizzled Paul.

Embry bristled at him; he did not like that. Paul might be his half brother but no one criticized his imprint. But Rachel calmed him with a kiss and a stroke on the chest. She looked around to see who was closest.

Pititchu always settled right in the centre of a pack pile; she loved it. And Quil was right next to her.

"Quil, hit Paul," Rachel pseudo alpha ordered.

Quil sat up, and his arm snaked out and whacked Paul up the back of the head.

"Fuck's sake!" Paul shouted as he spilt his beer.

Leah guffawed. Everyone else looked dumbfounded. Jake looked especially shocked.

Quil looked at his own arm in astonishment. "Embry dude… I will NEVER doubt you again," Quil stated.

**AN: and this is the end for Embry and Rachel, at least in this story. There will be one more chapter; outtakes for Quil and Pititchu – thank you for all your comments and reviews, they bring me joy.**

**MTR **

FF_2154210_ - 6/02/2011 12:01:00 PM


	36. Quil and Pititchu outtakes

**Chapter 36 Quil and Pititchu out-takes**

Disclaimer: _ the characters and all recognisable situations belong to Stephenie Meyer- this is a work of fan fiction, except for the legends and histories of the Quileute that, of course, belong to them. I pay my respects to their gods._

_Thanks to BanSidhe for betaing._

**AN: missionwolf really exists – the photos of the wolf pups are just so cute**

Seth could hear the laughter as he approached the house. He let himself in the front door and threw his school bag down on the floor as he headed to the kitchen. Leah was gasping and trying to speak and Jake was almost wiping tears from his cheeks.

"What on earth?" he asked.

Leah broke out into more laughter. Jake was clutching the kitchen counter.

"Quil…" Leah managed to gasp out.

Seth raised his eyebrows.

"Pitchi…" Jake managed.

Seth rolled his eyes. "What has she done now?" he asked.

"She… she buried… his shoe," Leah finally gasped out.

"She chews the furniture," added Jake.

"She urine marked the house," gasped Leah, "scent marked it as her territory."

"Man," said Seth, "she needs to go to puppy school.

That just cracked the other two up again.

* * *

At the ABC garage, they had finished up for the day and were having a quiet beer; just Embry, Jake and Quil.

Jake decided now, was probably a good time to ask Quil if he needed help with Pititchu.

"So Quil, I hear Pititchu is giving you some trouble," he started.

"Fuck's sake, I don't know what to do with her," whined Quil. "She stole one of my shoes and she buried it. She must have done it ages ago and I didn't miss it for a while, so by the time I got her to tell me where it was, it was ruined."

Embry snorted.

"It's not funny Embry. This is a big deal. I don't have that many shoes, you know?"

"Sorry Quil," muttered Embry.

"She buries everything! Even socks and dirty underwear. Old Quil is going crazy over it."

"Uh huh," said Jake.

"She scratches herself behind the ears with her foot." Quil stopped, "actually, that one is pretty damn useful," he smirked, "but even that… she thinks any sexual position other than doggy style is weird… I mean I am trying to educate her…"

Embry looked like he was biting his own tongue.

Quil continued, "The other night at dinner, she snapped at old Quil when he took the last piece of chicken; damn near took his hand off. He whacked her with his walking cane." Quil waved his arms dramatically. "My house is turning into a circus…."

Quil was on a roll now and the others were barely holding it together.

"She ate the steaks before we cooked them last week. Stole them off the kitchen counter. Mum went ape shit when she found her up on the counter in wolf form. She tried to take them off her and Pititchu nearly bit her. Mum launched into some whine about how it was bad enough we ate as much as we did; couldn't we even wait for her to cook it first? I mean you had to see it; a wolf on the counter and Mum standing there threatening her with the rolling pin."

He paused for a minute.

"She drinks the toilet water. I was trying to teach her to use the toilet and she was horrified to wee in there. 'And foul the water?' she asked. I mean where did she even learn a word like 'foul'?"

Embry finally managed to speak relatively sensibly, "She needs training," he suggested.

"Puppy training… like that shit?" Quil looked relieved. "Yeah I guess that might help. What do we do?"

"Remember she is a wolf, not a dog," Jake pointed out.

"Jeez, don't I know it. I mean I took her to see Charles Eastman the other day and he is standing there with this confused look on his face and when I asked him what was wrong, he said he didn't know whether he should give her a shot for tetanus or one for kennel cough."

"Look Quil, why don't we go into the animal shelter? The guy who works there has worked with wolves before," Embry suggested.

"Sure, sure. Can we go now do you think?"

"I'll phone him and see if he is around." Embry went off to make the call.

"She was scrabbling around the floorboards, on her hands and knees and whining the other night. There was a mouse in the house wall and she went nuts trying to find it."

Jake lost it.

Embry came back to find Jake roaring with laughter and Quil sulking. "He's there now if you want to go now. Jake, you coming?"

"I've got something to work on. Gotta finish the Chevy, I'll be here when you get back."

* * *

Jake had work to do, but he was dying to hear how the trip to the animal shelter went. So, he waited around for Embry to get back.

Embry walked in and heaved a sigh of relief.

Jake looked at him. "How did it go?"

"It was very nearly a fucking disaster," said Embry vehemently. "Hal, the guy who runs it got really upset when we asked about wolf/dog domestication. He launched into a fucking lecture about how wolves could not be domesticated. As if we don't know anything about them. He seemed really upset. Last month he found a wolf for sale on Craiglist of all things, marked as a German shepherd. He has rescued some before and sent them over to Montana to the Missionwolf camp there, but they couldn't take this one. They have run out of room and it had to be euthanized."

Embry tried to imitate Hal's voice, "You people just don't understand that a wild wolf needs 10,000 acres of land each… it's a wild animal not a pet… you can't expect it to be contained in a yard…"

"When he told Quil the best thing he could do was put her to sleep, he went nuts. I managed to drag him out of there before he attacked him, but fuck me, it was close. Quil almost blew it when he shouted that Hal wanted him to put down his imprint. Luckily Hal didn't hear him properly; he was too busy shouting back at him about how inhumane he was."

They stood there wondering how they could help.

"Maybe it is a dominance thing," suggested Embry. "You should give him some alpha advice Jake."

"Good idea. I'll try that tomorrow."

* * *

The next day Embry was off picking up a vehicle. Jake thought it was a good time to bring up the alpha theory.

"Quil, back to your Pititchu issues…"

"Yeah," said Quil. He sounded doubtful now.

"Maybe it's a dominance thing," Jake suggested.

"What do you mean?"

"You're the mini alpha."

"Mini? Nothing mini about me mate," blustered Quil.

"Jesus Quil, you know what I meant. I am the pack alpha but you have to be her alpha at home. Be the boss of her; she's a wolf."

"I see what you mean."

"You rule the roost; subdue her," suggested Jake.

"Like what?"

"Bite her on the neck Quil."

"Yeah I do that," his voice dropped a register.

Jake rolled his eyes. "No, no; properly. Bite her right across the back of her neck, right above her spine, like a mother does with a puppy. Its instinct; she should just go limp on you, to show her submission."

Quil looked calculating. "You did that to Leah," he guessed.

Jake looked caught out. "You tell that to anyone and I **will** kill you." He pointed at Quil for emphasis.

Quil snorted. "I'm not scared of you."

"Fine," Jake huffed, "you tell anyone that and Leah will kill you."

"Yeah okay, now I'm scared," agreed Quil.

"You're the alpha in the house Quil, act like it! Bite her neck; nip her ears; all that wolf stuff.** That's** what she understands."

* * *

The next week Embry and Jake were dying to know how the 'alpha at home' had gone.

"Man," Quil exhaled, "you should have seen it. You were right Jake; she went all limp when I bit her on the neck. She's been much better… but then I lost it with her and shouted at her. 'Stop chewing the goddamed furniture woman!' and her face got this panicked look, she threw herself on the floor on her back. You know, soft underbelly up, with her hands tucked up under her chin and she whined…" He looked dreamy. "It was adorable…." Quil shook his head, "I mean I managed to stay stern so she doesn't learn any bad habits."

"We need to put her on a special patrol; outer perimeter. Miles away from any real trouble," Jake hastened to add at the look on Quil's face.

"Yeah," said Embry, "if she can run every day, she might be less naughty. It could be boredom. You know… like your scenting game, you used to play. You're kind of busy now we have a business."

"I could put her with one of the new wolves. It would be good for them both, I reckon," suggested Jake.

Quil looked doubtful, "As long as its just exercise," he said. "You know she doesn't have our fast healing or super strength."

"Sure, sure," said Jake.

* * *

Quil snuck into the house holding something behind his back. Pititchu's head stuck out the doorway.

"Quil!" she exclaimed.

She bounced around him. "Is that for me?" she asked eagerly.

"Yep, I told you if you were a good girl, you'd get a reward."

He pulled it out from behind his back, "Look Baby, a bongo bone!"

FF_2154210_ - 7/02/2011 03:08:00 AM


	37. Buffet business

**Chapter 37 Buffet business**

Disclaimer: _ the characters and all recognisable situations belong to Stephenie Meyer- this is a work of fan fiction, except for the legends and histories of the Quileute that, of course, belong to them. I pay my respects to their gods._

_Thanks to BanSidhe for betaing._

**AN: feebes reminded me that I had written this – I had forgotten - oopsies my bad**

**Next in the series, will be Seth – mwahaha – what evil, dark things can I do to the sunniest puppy of all? It's half written, okay maybe a quarter – so give me a few weeks and it should be done – happy reading! MTR**

Collin and Brady stood in the street in Port Angeles. The were standing in front of a restaurant that proudly advertised an 'all you can eat buffet'. This was their kind of place. Because boy, could they eat. It was a recommendation.

"It looks open; are you sure this is the place, Brady?"

"Paul told me," he sounded kind of pleased that Paul had taken any interest in him at all.

Regardless of what Paul did now, he had an awesome reputation among the young men of La Push. Collin and Brady might only be 15 but they had grown up on stories about Paul Waggener. He was a legend.

But since they had phased, grown several inches, developed muscles they never thought they would have and looked physically 25 they were having all kinds of fun. They had discovered women and women had discovered them. It was like a fantasy for them. Penthouse letters had nothing on what they were being offered these days.

And they took the offers with _both hands_. And anything else they needed too.

But today they were intent on feeding their other appetites. Food was on the to-do list today.

First.

Brady had noticed the admiring glances of a group of young women who had just exited a coffee shop further down the street.

"Woo hoo Collin, look… dessert…" He gave them his new smile. Collin had caught him practicing it in front of the mirror last week. He was trying to cultivate a raffish look. A kind of a half smile. However, it was not his normal smile, so he was having to work pretty hard at it.

It still looked kind of odd. But Collin had no doubt he would manage to make it look natural eventually.

Collin felt a prickling sensation at the back of his neck.

"Brady, we're being watched," he hissed at his friend.

"Hell yeah, we are," Brady had not taken his eyes off the girls.

"No… something else is watching us."

Brady rolled his eyes. "'Something?' Jesus Collin! Lighten up! We are not in the forest now." He whacked his friend in the shoulder, "We're in Port Angeles, get over it."

Collin was not so sure.

Collin may have been observant outside the restaurant but it would have served him better to be observing the activity inside the restaurant.

Initially, a staff member had approached the manager with a printed sheet of paper. It looked somewhat like a 'wanted' poster with mug shots on it. The staff member pointed outside the window. The manager and the staff member held up this poster and studied the two boys standing in the street and then they started to panic and run.

It was a scene of panicked alarm in the restaurant as staff ran in all directions. One pulled down the blinds and covered all the windows, another ran out the back, returned with a stout chain, and started winding it around the handles of the front door. Another slid a heavy barricade across the back of both doors. The manager spoke quickly and desperately to the few people who were eating in the restaurant today. Some left out the back entrance, but most started to hide under their tables. The children with them were shushed by their parents as if it was all a game. They enthusiastically joined in the crazy antics of the grown ups. Table cloths were thrown over the remaining meals on tables to cover the plates.

At the last second the manager flipped over the open sign so that it now read 'closed' and the last staff member turned off all the lights.

Their timing was perfect; anyone would think they had done it before.

Brady finally took his eyes off the girls and focused on the restaurant. He frowned.

"That's weird," he said, "Jesus Collin, I thought you said this place was open."

Suddenly they could hear laughter.

They looked across the road to the park, to see Quil rolling on the ground holding his stomach and laughing hysterically, Paul was being high-fived by Jake, and Embry was just looking at them and shaking his head.

"We are **so** going to get our asses kicked, Brady," said Collin.

"Yep," agreed Brady, "we didn't even know they were following us. Jake is going to tear us a new one."

FF_2154210_ - 7/02/2011 12:21:00 PM


End file.
